University Research Corridor

“Government is this extraordinary public university — a place that’s doing lifesaving research, and catalyzing economic growth, and graduating students who will change the world around them in ways big and small,” — President Obama at the University of Michigan Commencement

Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, told The National Summit that innovation and education are two critical factors that will determine how well the United States economy will perform in the decades to come.

“Our university faculty are phenomenal and probably our greatest untapped resource is our post docs and graduate students who are out there ready to help your business.” — Aneesh Chopra, Chief Technology Officer of the United States

“We have another function, a mission to aid in economic development and growth. There needs to be a rewards system in place for entrepreneurs within the university.” — University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman

“A competitive and prosperous America includes a more competitive educational system. It includes a technology and R&D sector that is second-to-none.” — Andrew Liveris, CEO of Dow Chemical Co.

“We need to retool our workforce when we have a downturn, that means more higher education, in fact we have run in an opposite direction,” — Wayne State University President Jay Noren

“The kind of work going on at our universities is incredible. It’s not a question of technology: we have it. It’s a matter of commercializing,” — Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit.

“Our students want to be difference-makers for society,” — Michigan State University President Lou Anna Simon

“The challenge is to make the high level of commercialization at institutions like U-M a standard at all American universities,” — U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke

IDEAS FOR OUR NEXT GOVERNOR

Top 10 pipeline issues. These are projects, partnerships, early-phase opportunities that are already in one stage or another that are improving our state's diversification: MSU facility for rare isotope beams; U-M Pfizer Campus, EPA lab; Wayne State University, TechTown, NextEnergy; entrepreneurship/career training; access to all forms of capital; new materials/composites research; new manufacturing processes; life sciences, medical schools, medical R&D; University Research Corridor; tech transfer, intellectual property; clean tech/green tech centers of energy excellence. -- Ed Clemente, chair of House New Economy and Quality of Life Committee in a letter to Crain's Detroit Business
(Crain’s Detroit Business, July 26, 2010)
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UNIVERSITY INNOVATION DRIVES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, DESERVES SUPPORT, SAYS U.S. COMMERCE SECRETARY

“Higher education is what is driving our local, state and national economies,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke told the invited attendees. “We need to focus on active funding for our universities.” Locke praised U-M as a leading research university and its ability to be an economic engine for the community. But, most universities aren't so far along, he said. “We're not doing a good enough job of getting those ideas into the marketplace,” Locke said. “What we need to do is get better at connecting the great ideas to the great company builders. “The challenge is to make the high level of commercialization at institutions like U-M a standard at all American universities,” he said...

Locke also announced at the forum that (U-M President Mary Sue) Coleman would be co-chairing a new council, the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, designed to help create federal initiatives to push innovation and commercialization at research universities. “We know where innovation thrives in labs and incubators close to universities in places like Ann Arbor,” he said. “President Coleman will have invaluable knowledge on developing a broader strategy on innovation.”
(Crain's Detroit Business, July 13, 2010.)
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STATE INVESTMENT IN HIGHER ED PAYS OFF

What does Michigan want to be in the 21st century? This year, as in the past two or three, lawmakers and the governor likely will go down to the wire to create a state budget. And often, state funding for higher education — one of the state’s biggest assets for now and in the future — is reduced. Nearly any institution can find ways to reduce costs. But state investment in higher education will pay off not only in a better-educated population but in building institutions that in turn build the state economy.

Case in point: Last week, the University of Michigan unfolded its most detailed plan yet for transforming the former Pfizer Inc. research center on the north edge of Ann Arbor into a billion-dollar research hub. Buying the complex may be the best $100 million UM — or the state of Michigan — has ever spent. As we report on Page 1, the university plans to raise $200 million to recruit faculty, finance multidisciplinary research projects and refit lab space. But the payoff will be doubling the now $1 billion research spending at UM, more startup companies and for-profit jobs created by commercializing what comes out of those UM labs.

The good news for Michigan is that, on a smaller scale, this research-to-market focus is happening at other state-supported universities, from Wayne State’s TechTown to Western Michigan University's life sciences incubator and a lot — including Michigan State’s vaunted agriculture research — in between. State-supported universities should be viewed as investments that give multiple benefits in return.
(Crain’s Detroit Business editorial, May 16, 2010)
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OBAMA TO U-M: “THIS EXTRAORDINARY PUBLIC UNIVERSITY... CATALYZING ECONOMIC GROWTH”

It is great to be here in the Big House — and so may I say, “Go Blue!” I thought I’d go for the cheap applause line to start things off.... Democrat Lyndon Johnson announced the Great Society during a commencement here at Michigan, but it was the Republican President before him, Dwight Eisenhower, who launched the massive government undertaking known as the Interstate Highway System....

Government is this extraordinary public university — a place that’s doing lifesaving research, and catalyzing economic growth, and graduating students who will change the world around them in ways big and small...

...I look out at this class and I realize for four years at Michigan you have been exposed to diverse thinkers and scholars, professors and students. Don’t narrow that broad intellectual exposure just because you’re leaving here. Instead, seek to expand it. If you grew up in a big city, spend some time with somebody who grew up in a rural town. If you find yourself only hanging around with people of your own race or ethnicity or religion, include people in your circle who have different backgrounds and life experiences. You’ll learn what it’s like to walk in somebody else’s shoes, and in the process, you will help to make this democracy work. ....

...It was 50 years ago that a young candidate for president came here to Michigan and delivered a speech that inspired one of the most successful service projects in American history. And as John F. Kennedy described the ideals behind what would become the Peace Corps, he issued a challenge to the students who had assembled in Ann Arbor on that October night: “on your willingness to contribute part of your life to this country,” he said, will depend the answer whether a free society can compete. I think it can,” he said...

What is certain — what has always been certain — is the ability to shape that destiny. That is what makes us different. That is what sets us apart. That is what makes us Americans — our ability at the end of the day to look past all of our differences and all of our disagreements and still forge a common future. That task is now in your hands, as is the answer to the question posed at this university half a century ago about whether a free society can still compete. If you are willing, as past generations were willing, to contribute part of your life to the life of this country, then I, like President Kennedy, believe we can. Because I believe in you.
(President Barack Obama at the University Michigan Commencement, May 1, 2010)
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DETROIT FREE PRESS EDITORIAL: DATELINE FAILED TO MENTION URC

The “Dateline NBC” report “Detroit: A City of Heartbreak and Hope,” which aired last Sunday, is yet another story that focused almost exclusively on the most extreme examples of the daunting social and economic challenges the city faces. We, as leading organizations in our region, have reached our breaking point and demand a more balanced look at our city and region....“Dateline” failed to mention that the Detroit region is a life sciences epicenter, with massive research being done at Henry Ford Hospital, Wayne State University, the University of Michigan, the Taubman Medical Research Institute, the Medical Main Street, the University Research Corridor and elsewhere. As a result, Detroit will host the World Stem Cell Summit later this year.
(Detroit Free Press editorial, April 25, 2010)
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CENSUS NUMBERS SHOW SLIGHT 2008-09 GROWTH IN WASHTENAW COUNTY POPULATION

Washtenaw County experienced a meager population growth from 2008 to 2009 - but that was still enough to elevate it to the third highest of any county in Michigan during that period, U.S. Census numbers released today show....Susan Kellam, the relocation director for the Charles Reinhart Company Realtors, said she would estimate that between 80 percent and 85 percent of new Washtenaw County residents are drawn here from other states, not from other Michigan counties....“Our area continues to be a magnet for highly educated transferees who relish the opportunity to join our local universities," she said. "Many new, start-up companies are attracting new employees to our community. While there has been caution and conservative hiring with many existing companies over the past several years, recent announcements regarding companies relocating to the area are encouraging and exciting."... In terms of raw numbers, only Oakland County and Kent County had bigger numbers of people moving in, the data shows. (AnnArbor.com, March 24, 2010).

NY TIMES MAGAZINE: BUILDING A BETTER TEACHER

The article features MSU graduate/U-M School of Education Dean Deborah Ball and how she and her colleagues are transforming the culture of teaching: And rather than focus on universal teaching techniques that can be applied across subjects and grade levels, Hill and her colleagues ask what good teachers should know about the specific subjects they teach. The wellspring of this movement was Michigan State’s school of education, which, under the direction of Judith Lanier... took the lead in rethinking teacher education. Lanier overhauled Michigan State’s teacher-preparation program and helped open two research institutes dedicated to the study of teaching and teacher education.

She recruited innovative scholars from around the country, and almost overnight East Lansing became a hotbed of education research. One of those researchers was Deborah Loewenberg Ball, an assistant professor who also taught math part time at an East Lansing elementary school and whose classroom was a model for teachers in training. In 1990, Ball filmed her third-grade math class at the Spartan Village Elementary School, and those videos became the foundation for a great deal of teacher-training research....I was watching the video at the University of Michigan’s school of education, where Ball, who has traded in her grandma glasses for black cat’s-eye frames, is now the dean — and one of the country’s foremost experts on effective teaching....

Working with Hyman Bass, a mathematician at the University of Michigan, Ball began to theorize that while teaching math obviously required subject knowledge, the knowledge seemed to be something distinct from what she had learned in math class. It’s one thing to know that 307 minus 168 equals 139; it is another thing to be able understand why a third grader might think that 261 is the right answer. Mathematicians need to understand a problem only for themselves; math teachers need both to know the math and to know how 30 different minds might understand (or misunderstand) it. Then they need to take each mind from not getting it to mastery. (The New York Times Magazine, March 7, 2010).

URC sets goals for 2010

Michigan’s University Research Corridor has a clear vision: Help create the 21st century Michigan. What should the new Michigan look like and how can the URC become a major force in creating our state’s new, dynamic economy?

THE ECONOMIST: MICHIGAN NEEDS WHOLE-SCALE REINVENTION

Universities, too, are preparing to play a bigger role in the state’s economy. The top-notch University of Michigan, a mere 40-minute drive from Detroit, is filled with cheerful cafés and big brains. The three-year-old University Research Corridor is a collaboration between Michigan’s three main universities. “I describe it as the university becoming much more porous”, explains Mary Sue Coleman, president of the University of Michigan. She hopes to improve ties with businesses and ease the commercialisation of academic research. Just as energetic is the attempt to nurture a new generation of entrepreneurs. (For 100 years, Michigan coasted on the success of that hyperactive entrepreneur, Henry Ford.) The University of Michigan has a two-year-old Centre for Entrepreneurship, providing classes and other support to students with business ideas. In Detroit, Wayne State University’s TechTown is a research park as well as an incubator for new companies. TechTown hopes to help create 1,200 start-ups by 2012. (The Economist, January 14, 2010).

A FEW GOOD PEOPLE

The Midwest is still struggling to redefine itself in the age of globalization, but a lot of good people are engaged in that struggle. As a difficult decade ends and a new, perhaps better, one dawns, it’s a good time to salute a few of these good people. They’re among the leaders who are setting the Midwest’s agenda for the future and who will help guide it into that future...Lou Anna Simon is president of Michigan State and Mary Sue Coleman is president of the University of Michigan. Michigan needs all the help it can get in rebuilding its economy and linking itself to the outside world, and it is very well served by these two academic leaders. Simon has spoken of the European Union as a template for future Midwestern cooperation. Closer to home, she has hived off part of her university’s medical school and transplanted it to Grand Rapids, 70 miles away, giving that city an invaluable anchor in its campaign to reinvent itself as a center of medical research. Coleman knows that her school is crucial to the economic future of the Midwest, not just Michigan, and has focused hard on 21st century research. Her University Research Corridor already involves Michigan State and Wayne State and, in a speech in Cleveland, she invited Case Western, Ohio State and the University of Akron to join. In a region crippled by mindless competition between universities and between states, this is true vision. (One of her predecessors, James Duderstadt, has written a series of "Roadmaps" for Michigan that is laying the intellectual groundwork for this thinking about the future.) (Richard Longworth, Senior Fellow at The Chicago Council on Global Affairs and author of Caught in the Middle: America’s Heartland in the Age of Globalism, January 11, 2010).

IN ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN FINDS ITS “LIFE PRESERVER’

You might be surprised to find yourself in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The city is like a life preserver, floating in a state whose economy has been sinking for a decade. Michigan is home to the nation’s highest unemployment rate, 30 percent in Detroit, and a full-blown collapse of its manufacturing economy. But, Ann Arbor, built around the University of Michigan campus is literally buzzing with activity. (Ray Suarez, PBS News Hour, Dec. 8, 2009)

FREMONT ‘INSHORING’ FIRM TO HIRE 1,000-PLUS NEAR UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

A Fremont ‘inshoring’ company says it plans to hire nearly 1,100 employees in the next five years for an information technology services center near Ann Arbor, Mich., the home of the University of Michigan...According to Systems In Motion’s Web site, the company seeks to offer customers the cost savings of "offshoring" in U.S. locations "where bright, young, college graduates are given standardized training on application and infrastructure services supporting technology assets, and set up to perform in a highly controlled environment." (San Jose Mercury News, Sept. 22, 2009).

STEM CELL SUMMIT IN DETROIT? PROPOSAL 2, TECHTOWN LABS AMONG SELLING POINTS

His agenda the first day included a tour of TechTown.... The second day he met in Ann Arbor with University of Michigan stem-cell researchers and in East Lansing with Michigan State University researchers. “There’s certainly enough academic resources in the state to make it a center for regenerative medicine,” he said. (Crain’s Detroit Business, Sept. 20, 2009)

IBM OPENS DELIIVERY CENTER AT MICHIGAN STATE

IBM has opened a new delivery center in East Lansing on the campus of Michigan State University. The center, originally announced in January 2009, is the first of its kind in the United States for IBM. The opening ceremony included both Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm and MSU President Lou Anna Simon, as well as representatives and customers from IBM and university students, faculty, and staff. The intent of the center, which is a place of business for the vendor, is to develop best practices in providing application development and support services to modernize older and less efficient IT systems for state and local government agencies and universities, as well as customers in telecommunications, healthcare, and other industries. In addition, the center houses an IBM legal center of competence, which analyzes customer contracts in support of complex service engagements. MSU and IBM will collaborate across several of academic programs, including business, engineering, natural science, and social science. Also, students will be candidates for employment by programs in the center. (Campus Technology, Sept. 16, 2009).

HOW SCIENCE CAN CREATE MILLIONS OF NEW JOBS

Reigniting basic research can repair the broken U.S. business model and put Americans back to work

Name an industry that can produce 1 million new, high-paying jobs over the next three years. You can’t, because there isn’t one. And that’s the problem.

America needs good jobs, soon. We need 6.7 million just to replace losses from the current recession, then an additional 10 million to keep up with population growth and to spark demand over the next decade. In the 1990s the U.S. economy created a net 22 million jobs, or 2.2 million a year. But from 2000 to the end of 2007, the rate plunged to 900,000 a year. The pipeline is dry because the U.S. business model is broken. Our growth engine has run out of a key fuel—basic research....

In the past, when the U.S. exported high-paying jobs to low-wage countries, we replaced them with even greater numbers of high-paying jobs in industries whose inception could be traced back to science done decades earlier....

The good news is that restarting the science engine is quite doable and doesn’t require massive investment relative to other spending. Venture capitalists are sitting on plenty of cash and are good at bringing startups to the market. We just have to rebuild the upstream labs that focus on basic research—the headwaters for the whole innovation ecosystem. (BusinessWeek, Sept. 7, 2009).

INNOVATION COULD FUEL ECONOMIC RECOVERY

Sometime next year, Michigan will lose its 1 millionth job since the state’s economy began its downward slide in mid-2000. With a frenzy born of desperation, the state is trying to rekindle the entrepreneurial spirit that made Dow, Kellogg and Ford household names. That trio founded the state’s famous chemical, cereal and auto companies a century ago. These days, the state is doing what it can to foster a new generation of innovation. At universities and community colleges, in downtown office spaces and 15 "SmartZone" technology centers designed to spark collaborations between universities and industry, Michigan is working to encourage the creation of new industries to provide the middle-class jobs that made the state a mecca for generations of workers. (The Associated Press, Sept. 7, 2009)

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN’S EX-PFIZER SITE ACQUISITION IS ‘WATERSHED MOMENT’

Based on the recommendations that will be finalized in coming weeks, workers could begin moving into ex-Pfizer space by January. University officials emphasize that the transition - focusing on expanding research opportunities - would be deliberate and methodical, not rushed. Stephen Forrest, U-M’s vice president for research and chairman of Ann Arbor SPARK, said the university’s acquisition of the ex-Pfizer site marks an unprecedented opportunity. “It’s truly a watershed moment in the university’s history - probably the biggest event in 50 or maybe 100 years,” he said in an interview at the ex-Pfizer site. (AnnArbor.com, Sept. 5, 2009).

SUCCESS STORY: STUDENT LIFE REVITALIZES DOWNTOWN FLINT

Next Wednesday, some 250 college students will move into the first eight floors of the newly renovated Riverfront Residence Hall, the latest boost to a city on the upswing. "Studies show that one of the keys to revitalizing the Rust Belt urban centers is institutions of higher learning," said Ridgway White, project manager for the nonprofit Uptown Reinvestment Corporation, which is focused on revitalizing downtown Flint. "We thought student housing was a great way to boost enrollment at the local universities and expand the geographic boundaries of the universities."

There’s also an economic advantage, he said. "If students have a good experience here, sometimes there’s a likelihood they’ll stay around and create a new company or work for a company in the area," said White. "The key to attracting new businesses is having local talent." (The Center for Michigan, Aug. 27, 2009).

HOUSE PANEL APPROVES TAX CREDIT FOR ENERGY PARK AT OLD WIXOM PLANT

A tax break tailored to two renewable energy companies that intend to launch an energy park at the abandoned Ford Wixom plant was unanimously approved by a state House committee this morning.The specialized tax credit for a maximum of $100 million -- $25 million a year over four years -- is created for Xtreme Power of Austin, Texas, and Clairvoyant Energy of Santa Barbara, Calif. The companies expect to create about 4,300 jobs and invest $725 million to refurbish the plant shuttered two years ago and to install high-tech equipment to make solar power cells and large-scale storage batteries. Average salaries will be about $40,000 a year..... The project is expected to attract other renewable energy companies. A research and development center also will be located at the site and the firms will partner with a Michigan university. The companies are working with University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University. (The Detroit News, August 26, 2009)

DETROIT IS IN CRISIS, BUT IT HASN’T GIVEN UP

But Detroit and Michigan haven’t given up. Along the university research corridor – named in hopeful imitation of North Carolina’s technology triangle – billions of dollars from government and private foundations are financing research in new technologies at state universities in Detroit, Ann Arbor and Lansing. The principal focus is on alternative-energy research and, increasingly, on adapting automotive technology to biotechnology.

“Basically, if you can make a hood, you can make an elbow,” explains Nancy Cappola, who works with an entrepreneurial development program at Detroit’s Wayne State University. There have been promising advances, there are exciting new startups. Will they employ millions of unemployed auto workers any time soon? No. But their future is Detroit and Michigan’s future. If they succeed, Michigan can succeed. We don’t know if they will. We only know they must....

Must Detroit fail? Has it declined too far to ever return to prosperity? The answer, perhaps, can be found across campus, at a new engineering research centre, filled with robotics labs and clean rooms, where researchers are conducting experiments in alternative energy, nano-science and biotechnology. This despite savage cuts to university budgets from a straightened state government. (Toronto Globe and Mail, Aug. 18, 2009)

ARMY COMPLEX GROWS ITS RANKS IN WARREN

...the Army expects to boost employment in the region (Macomb County) from 6,500 today to 9,800 by 2015. Most of the jobs will be filled by civilians with advanced degrees.... Bochenek, meanwhile, has reached out to boost collaboration with universities and private companies. TARDEC has provided $2 million to fund projects at the University of Michigan’s Ground Robotics Research Center, opened a year ago. On Thursday, iRobot Corp. of Bedford, Mass., said it joined the U-M center as its first industrial member. iRobot opened an office in Troy last year. (Detroit Free Press, Aug. 21, 2009)

GM CEO FRITZ HENDERSON: U-M’S BATTERY EXPERTISE GENERATES REAL INNOVATION

I caught up briefly this morning with General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson at Detroit-basedNextEnergy, where U.S. Vice President Joe Biden officially awarded more than $1 billion in stimulus grants to Michigan battery companies. I asked Henderson to describe the importance of GM's battery research relationship with the University of Michigan to the company's pursuit of electric vehicle technology. Watch the video to see his response. (AnnArbor.com, Aug. 5, 2009)

U-M, ANN ARBOR FIRM AMONG MICHIGAN WINNERS OF �$2.4 BILLION IN FEDERAL ENERGY GRANTS

The University of Michigan and a startup with strong ties to Ann Arbor will receive millions in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop batteries, officials announced today. Watertown, Mass.-based A123Systems, which has a research operation in Ann Arbor, will open battery centers in Brownstown and Romulus. A123, which is receiving $249.1 million, is partnering with Chrysler to produce lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles.U-M will receive $2.5 million for "education and workforce training programs" to accelerate battery technologies, according to the Department of Energy...Today's battery grant announcement does not include U-M spinoff Sakti3, whose $15 million grant application was endorsed by General Motors and Gov. Jennifer Granholm. Sakti3, led by U-M professor Ann Marie Sastry, is based on Victors Way in Ann Arbor. Sakti3 is still eligible for future battery grants. A123Systems in 2006 acquired Ann Arbor-based tech startup T/J Technologies, which was founded by U-M scientist Levi Thompson and his wife, Maria, in the early 1990s. A123 maintained its Ann Arbor office, and Maria Thompson continues to lead the operation.

WITH BATTERY GRANTS COMES CHALLENGES

What a welcome change today to have Michigan ranked first among the states in something positive. A tally of federal grants announced to hasten the manufacturing of advanced batteries and components in this country for electric vehicles showed Michigan companies nailing down $1.36 billion of the $2.4-billion total. White House officials, including Vice President Joe Biden in Detroit, said the grants would create up to 6,800 jobs over the next year and a half, and up to 40,000 in Michigan by 2020. Whether those job numbers tossed out today are ever realized — who’s going to remember an Obama promise in 2020? — is less important than Michigan being recognized as a leader in battery technology, just as it has been known for decades as the global center of automotive technology. There’s a future in this stuff. It’s something to build on. And it’s something the nation needs if we are ever going to get serious about significantly easing our dependence on foreign oil.... It is clear from history that the innovative Americans with cutting-edge ideas in an emerging field will go where there’s money to make things happen. For now, in the area of electric cars, that will mean Michigan. The state’s challenge will be to deliver the workforce needed for these large-scale high-tech undertakings. High school diplomas won’t do it. (Ron Dwonkowski, Detroit Free Press, Aug. 5, 2009)

DETROIT'S TECHTOWN IS LAUNCHPAD FOR BATTERY PLAN

When Vice President Joe Biden announced Michigan's $1.36-billion battery bonanza Wednesday, he was standing not in a temple of automotive technology, but in the 12-block area of Detroit known as TechTown, where budding entrepreneurs are battling to create the foundation of a new regional economy....The state is the big winner in the $2.4-billion federal grant program designed to spur manufacturing of batteries for electric vehicles, with more than half the money coming to Michigan to create up to 6,800 jobs in the next 18 months and up to 40,000 over the next 11 years. And officials chose the business incubator as a backdrop. Backed by Wayne State University, Henry Ford Health System and General Motors Co., which donated the TechOne building anchoring the site, TechTown is offering a range of start-up services to 98 small businesses. Executive Director Randal Charlton said that number has approximately doubled in the last year.

OBAMA: “BY 2020, THIS NATION WILL ONCE AGAIN HAVE THE HIGHEST PROPORTION OF COLLEGE GRADUATES IN THE WORLD”

Time and again, when we placed our bet for the future on education, we have prospered as a result—by tapping the incredible innovative and generative potential of a skilled American workforce. That's what happened when President Lincoln signed into law legislation creating the land grant colleges, which not only transformed higher education, but also our entire economy. That's what took place when President Roosevelt signed the GI Bill which helped educate a generation, and ushered in an era of unprecedented prosperity. That was the foundation for the American middle class.

And that's why, at the start of my administration I set a goal for America: By 2020, this nation will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world. We used to have that. We're going to have it again. (Applause.) And we've begun to take historic steps to achieve this goal. Already we've increased Pell grants by $500. (Applause.) We've created a $2,500 tax credit for four years of college tuition. (Applause.) We've simplified student aid applications and ensured that aid is not based on the income of a job that you just lost. (Applause.) A new GI Bill of Rights for the 21st century is beginning to help soldiers coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan to begin a new life—in a new economy. And the recovery plan has helped close state budget shortfalls—which put enormous pressure on public universities and community colleges—at the same time making historic investments in school libraries and classrooms and facilities all across America. So we've already taken some steps that are building the foundation for a 21st century education system here in America, one that will allow us to compete with China and India and everybody else all around the world.
(President Obama July 14, 2009 during an address at Macomb Community College, his first visit to Michigan since the 2008 presidential campaign.)

RE-THINKING COLLEGE ROLE IN JOB CREATION

Michigan continues to grapple with the question of how it can revive its economy and invest in its long-term prosperity. The answer is university research. But unlike other states, Michigan has yet to develop a comprehensive strategy for leveraging its world-class universities. Michigan is on the right trajectory. The 21st Century Jobs Fund promotes entrepreneurship by financing start-up companies, and universities receive funds for promising research. But Michigan has not created programs that directly promote the commercialization of university research. The University Research Corridor, an alliance between Michigan, Michigan State and Wayne State, aims to transform the state's economy through research and technology. But the creation of the URC reflects the entrepreneurial spirit of university leaders more than a concerted strategy from our state government.
(U-M researchers Michael Bastedo and Nathan Harris in The Detroit News, July 16, 2009)

GE CEO JEFF IMMELT ON WHY GE IS BRINGING 1,100 JOBS TO MICHIGAN

“Why Michigan? The University of Michigan is a Top 10 GE school already. Michigan State is a big school so we’re very comfortable with the engineering talent here. We believe a lot of our work fits well with the Tier 1 supply chain and the automotive supply chain and Gov. Granholm was a great partner. There’s a public-private partnership. There’s good and strong incentives for us to be here and so those things all came together with this investment,’’ — GE CEO Jeff Immelt on why GE chose to open a new Advanced Manufacturing and Software Technology Center in Van Buren Twp., Michigan, June 26, 2009 at the Detroit Economic Club.

CEOs STRESS INNOVATION, EDUCATION, RESEARCH AT NATIONAL SUMMIT

“First, we really do have to deepen our commitment to innovation by investing more in research and taking a longer term view of the role that innovation plays in creating business success.Too many American companies I think have overemphasized — sounds like a funny thing to say — but overemphasized short-term profits over the kinds of long-term investments in R&D which are necessary. And too many American companies failed to focus in on the type of business model innovation that really turns technology into successful, sustainable and profitable products. The second thing we have to do, absolutely must do, is provide a first-class education to everyone in this country.” — Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer at the National Summit in Detroit June 17.

“Our university faculty are phenomenal and probably our greatest untapped resource is our post docs and graduate students who are out there ready to help your business.” — Aneesh (Chopra, Chief Technology Officer of the United States at the National Summit June 17.

”A competitive and prosperous America includes a more competitive educational system. It includes a technology and R&D sector that is second-to-none,” — Andrew Liveris, chairman and CEO of Dow Chemical Co. and co-chairman of the National Summit June 17.

“The kind of work going on at our universities is incredible,” Pandit said. “It’s not a question of technology: we have it. It’s a matter of commercializing. There are going to be many Googles in the clean energy sector alone... It’s all about talent. Our universities are full of some of the smartest people. It’s a good thing to be able to attract the best talent in the world,” — Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit at the National Summit June 15.

“Imagine with energy policy how we could harness the education and business community of this state. We’ve got the building blocks, but what’s the mix?’’ — Dura Automotive CEO Tim Leuliette at the National Summit June 17.

Microsoft CEO Ballmer to push innovation
Leader to speak at National Summit

I’m still optimistic about Detroit’s future. All the elements are here. The work ethic is still strong. Michigan has an incredible system of great universities and a workforce that ranks near the top in the country in the number of people with technology degrees. — Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer.
(Detroit Free Press, June 14, 2009)
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PITTSBURGH: A LESSON FOR DETROIT?

And one of the ways Pittsburgh transformed itself is through its two major universities -- Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh. In February, Wayne State University President Jay Noren painted a picture for a similar transformation in Detroit in a speech to the Detroit Economic Club. You can find the transcript here.... You can see that beginning to happen here, with WSU aligned with Michigan State and University of Michigan in a “University Research Corridor.” The goal is to leverage the strength of all three institutions to secure more research dollars and spin off more companies....I’m active in volunteer roles at WSU, on advisory boards for the School of Business Administration and the WSU Foundation. I am not an alum. But I tell just about anyone who will listen that WSU is the single most important economic development engine for Detroit and one of the most important for the region. The university and its medical school sit between two major health care systems — Henry Ford Hospital and the Detroit Medical Center.Our region is going through a lot of change, but every day I find plenty of evidence that Darwin’s idea is taking hold in Southeast Michigan. We just need to drag some elected leaders along — or ask that they get out of the way.
(Mary Kramer, Crain’s Detroit Business, June 9, 2009)
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NEW U.R.C. DIRECTOR HAS BIG PLANS IN SPITE OF SOUR ECONOMY

While many have said they expect the University Research Corridor to soar to new heights with Jeff Mason at the helm as its first executive director, that talk, and even a challenging economy, hasn’t rattled him, he said in an interview on Friday. “I don’t really look at the expectations as pressure,” said Mr. Mason, now the senior vice president at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. “It’s a tremendous opportunity. At the MEDC, there’s been a lot of pressure with the economy and at the corridor, there will be opportunities to build off success that has already occurred and take it to the next level.”
(Gongwer News Service, June 5, 2009)

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN WORKS WITH OTHER UNIVERSITIES TO ADVANCE STEM CELL RESEARCH

Scientists from a laboratory at the University of Michigan have traveled to Michigan State University to study techniques for creating induced pluripotent stem cells — adult stem cells reprogrammed to act as embryonic stem cells. Similarly, scientists from Wayne State University who work mostly with monkey embryos have gleaned information from a U-M center for human embryonic stem cells.They’re two examples of how the state’s academic researchers are trying to work closer together to advance stem cell research. On Thursday, scientists from U-M, MSU, Wayne State and Oakland University met on the U-M campus to jump-start more collaborative efforts. About 35 people attended, including administrators, industry representatives and a venture capitalist.
(Ann Arbor News, June 5, 2009)
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Ann Arbor and Warren: A Tale of Two Economies

Separated by 50 Miles but Worlds Apart, Michigan Cities Embody the State’s Ailing Industrial Core and a Potential Road to Rebirth

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan’s economy is the worst in the country, dragged down by its dependency on an ailing auto industry. But in a lab at Accio Energy in Ann Arbor, engineers Dawn White and David Carmein are driving in a different direction. They have built what they call an “aerovoltaic” device, a two-inch loop of piping that generates electricity — without moving blades or turbines — when air flows through it. The engineers’ next step: linking a series of these loops into screens that they see eventually generating wind electricity where windmills are too big, dangerous or noisy to go. Innovative companies like Accio are common in Ann Arbor, home to the University of Michigan, where a highly educated population has created a burgeoning economy, and a street-corner conversation can develop into a company and create jobs. Michigan’s economic future rests on making the state look more like Ann Arbor, and less like Warren, 50 miles to the northeast, where factory buildings and warehouses built on the riches of the Big Three auto makers bear signs saying they are “priced to sell.”...

“The old economy made Michigan rich and it made its work force get wages and benefits that were beyond anybody’s dream,” says Donald Grimes, a University of Michigan economist who paid his way through college in the 1970s by working summers at Ford and GM plants. “There is absolutely nothing that is going to replace those jobs.” The divide between Ann Arbor, with a population of 116,000, and Warren, population 126,000, is large and widening. Ann Arbor’s unemployment rate of 8.5% in March trailed the nationwide rate of 9% and was well below Michigan’s overall rate of 13.4%, based on nonseasonally adjusted figures. By contrast, Warren’s unemployment rate of 17.3% is among the highest in the state. The average family income in Ann Arbor was $106,599 in 2007, compared with $69,193 nationally and $60,813 in Warren. That economic gulf wasn’t always there. In 1979, the average family in Warren made $28,538 annually, not much below Ann Arbor’s average of $29,840. But in the past 30 years, the U.S. economy has undergone a sweeping transformation that has benefited cities like Ann Arbor and hurt manufacturing hubs like Warren.

As transportation and communication costs fell, and countries like Japan and, now, China, increased their manufacturing capability, Michigan’s advantages have faded. Those same forces of globalization benefited educated workers — an area where Michigan largely fell short. Except in Ann Arbor. Over the years, the city developed the types of schools, cultural institutions and amenities that made it an attractive place to live and work. Google, whose co-founder Larry Page attended the University of Michigan, opened an Ann Arbor campus in 2006. About 70,000 people commute to this city, about 40 miles west of Detroit, each day....

In Warren, which has the largest concentration of auto workers in the country, job transitions are more difficult to make. Just one in five of Warren’s workers between the ages of 25 and 64 holds a bachelor’s degree or higher, a relic of the days when a college degree wasn’t necessary to find a job that paid well. By comparison, three-quarters of Ann Arbor’s work force has at least a college degree...

At HandyLab, an Ann Arbor firm that makes a DNA-analysis device, Chief Executive Jeffrey Williams says he has had a hard time finding Ph.D.-level workers with highly specialized skills. His company, which has doubled to roughly 60 employees in the past year, has 10 job openings “It’s definitely gotten much harder with all the stigma around Detroit,” he says. “Somebody tries to pigeonhole us as Detroit, we say, ‘No, it’s Ann Arbor, it’s a completely different environment.’ ‘In another blow to Ann Arbor, Pfizer Inc. in 2007 announced that it was closing its research facilities in the city, where 2,100 people worked. But unlike idled auto workers, who often find there is no market for the manufacturing skills they have honed over the years, Pfizer’s researchers generally found work elsewhere. While some of America’s once-dominant industrial centers, including Pittsburgh and, a generation earlier, New York City, have been able to make the transition away from a manufacturing-dependent economy, others, such as Cleveland and Buffalo, have floundered. Warren, for its part, does have well-trained engineers and designers — GM’s technical center is there — and Wayne State University is building an advanced technology education center in Warren.Meanwhile, with the automotive industry’s latest troubles, more people in Michigan are breaking with the past and coming to see a college education as an economic necessity.
(The Wall Street journal, May 26, 2009)
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REGIONAL DISPUTES HOLD BACK MICHIGAN’S ECONOMY

If there was ever a time when we needed a shared sense of purpose, it’s now. But instead, Michigan’s deeply troubled economy is fueling naked self interest. That’s especially true in Southeast Michigan, where leaders could argue over the meaning of “cooperation.”...But there is some good news about Michigan’s regions.

As the state’s economy shifts away from basic manufacturing, collaborations that are based more on ideas or new types of economic activity are forming. Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo, for instance, are becoming important new centers of medical research and treatment. Grand Rapids, once known as The Furniture City, now has the Medical Mile. The Saginaw Valley is marketing itself as the “Solar Valley” as it attempts to become a prominent center of silicon-based technology used in solar energy panels.

Then there’s the University Research Corridor, which isn’t even a place. The corridor was created by the state’s three top research universities — the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University — to create jobs from knowledge-based activities. It just might take new regional configurations and leaders uninterested in protecting old boundary lines to transform Michigan’s economy.
(Rick Haglund, Booth Newspapers, May 20, 2009)
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$10M fund’s goal: 400 new companies: Kauffman to join NEI at TechTown

The New Economy Initiative for Southeast Michigan and theEwing Marion Kauffman Foundation were expected to announce today that they have formed a partnership based at TechTown to help spur entrepreneurship and create 400 new companies in Southeast Michigan in the next three years...The project includes business accelerator organizations and a host of others. To establish hundreds of new companies, “...we will utilize every resource — Wayne State, the Henry Ford Health System, Wayne County, the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Spark, Michigan State and Automation Alley,” Randal Charlton, TechTown’s executive director, said Friday.
(Crain’s Detroit Business, May 18, 2009)

BRAIN GAIN: WOMEN LEADING U-M, MSU TAKE BOLD RISKS, CREATE JOBS FOR STATE

In Michigan’s roiling sea of bad news, President Mary Sue Coleman at the University of Michigan and President Lou Anna K. Simon at Michigan State University surface as unexpected life rafts.

The public universities are powering up, reaching beyond traditional comfort zones and visibly taking risks, from a start-up campus in Dubai (Simon at MSU) to investing $108 million in Pfizer Corp.’s former Michigan headquarters space (Coleman at U-M). They’re talking about engagement, entrepreneurship, outreach and massive investment in new buildings and research projects, about boldness and vision....

“It’s their practicality that strikes me as so powerful,” says Doug Rothwell, president of Detroit Renaissance, the coalition of business leaders.

“They are both remarkable women,” says David Brandon, the Domino’s Pizza chief executive and former U-M regent. “They’ve taken these universities to new levels.”...

Their imprint is combined in the University Research Corridor, an ambitious effort to spur the growth of high-tech industry using the collective academic and research muscle of the University of Michigan, Wayne State and Michigan State, and it flourishes in separate initiatives on both presidents’ campuses.

Right now, Ann Arbor looks more like a Florida resort town during a building boom, as construction cranes loom over campus. In Grand Rapids, MSU’s new medical campus is transforming that city’s downtown.

Both Big Ten presidents have reached out locally — to business and the community — and globally, in sometimes dramatic ways: Simon’s effort to extend the MSU campus to Dubai, where 60 students are now enrolled in MSU-Dubai, is one ambitious demonstration of that.The list of outreach programs (LEAP and Prima Civitas in Lansing, Spark in Ann Arbor) is at root a practical effort to deploy university brainpower and resources to propel economic development, right here and now. That’s a relatively new role — but one both women say they embrace....

Entrepreneurs and CEOs, who can be culturally at odds with academics, are among both women’s biggest boosters. “Their styles are more like private industry CEOs than like the university presidents we’ve worked with in the past,” Rothwell says.
(Laura Berman, The Detroit News, May 14, 2009)
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MSU TO OFFER EDUCATION, MUSIC CLASSES IN DETROIT

Michigan State University is launching another addition to its growing Detroit presence, this time setting up an extension of its Colleges of Music and Education in an empty and striking historic building in the city’s cultural center.

The East Lansing-based Big Ten school signed a seven-year, $490,000 annual lease to move into a sloping Spanish-tile roofed building on Woodward Avenue designed by famed architect Albert Kahn. The 22,000-square-foot-building beside Wayne State University’s Bonstelle Theatre has been vacant for nearly 25 years. It’s expected to open this fall as a hub of teaching, learning and recruiting for the state’s largest university.

The move is expected to attract the kind of demographic that city boosters desperately crave: Young, educated and creative...

The move marks a significant expansion of the Community Music School, the outreach arm of the College of Music, which has traditionally brought music education and music therapy to those of all ages and abilities within the Greater Lansing community since its founding in 1993. Metro Detroiters will have access to early childhood education, a jazz orchestra and New Horizons, a band for adults age 50 and older where individuals can learn to play instruments, according to MSU.

Admissions, development and government affairs offices would all be set up in the city, Cassella said. It’s unclear how many students, faculty and staff will ultimately use the building. But MSU’s presence is expected to boost the number of young professionals and students converging in the Midtown area.
(The Detroit News, May 13, 2009)
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MICHIGAN’S NEW ECONOMY: NOT YOUR FATHER’S GAS GUZZLER

It’s time to put away the stereotype of Michigan’s economic engine as an archaic, gas-guzzling eight-cylinder clunker. The emerging Michigan economy is staking a claim as a research leader in everything from electric car batteries for tomorrow’s transportation to rare isotope beams used in linear accelerators that promise to unlock the secrets of nuclear astrophysics....Michigan State University staked its claim as a leading advanced research center recently when its East Lansing, MI campus was chosen by the U.S. Department of Energy as the site for DOE’s $550-million Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB)....The state also is expanding its advanced automotive research outside of the metro Detroit area. For example, Mercedes-Benz is expected to hire more than 200 workers for a hybrid technologies research and development center that will be relocated from Troy, MI to Washentow County. The center will be the first major alternative propulsion technology operation in the Ann Arbor, MI region, which is steadily assembling a range of companies devoted to advanced batteries and electric-vehicle technology. Mercedes-Benz Hybrid LLC, a subsidiary of Daimler North America, is said to be seeking a 65,000-square-foot facility to establish what will be called the Mercedes-Benz Engineering Center for Powertrains USA. Also in Ann Arbor is Sakti3, a venture-capital startup said to be close to commercializing an advanced battery manufacturing process; Advanced Battery Coalition for Drivetrains, a five-year, $5-million project joining University of Michigan researchers and General Motors engineers in electric-vehicle research; and A123Systems, a Massachusetts-based battery development company that is seeking federal energy loans to build a billion-dollar battery production plant in southeast Michigan.
(Business Facilities: The Location Advisor, April 2009)
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SOLAR MAY BECOME MICHIGAN’S MOST VIBRANT RENEWABLE ENERGY SECTOR

The state — boosted by a $19.5 million influx in federal research dollars to the University of Michigan — is quietly assembling a makeshift solar energy supply chain from research to commercialization. The U-M project and a $12.5 million project at Michigan State University mark the latest in a series of encouraging developments for Michigan’s solar energy industry, which can now plausibly stake a claim as the state’s most vibrant renewable energy sector.... The White House named U-M and MSU two of its 46 “Energy Frontier Research Centers” — collaborative research efforts designed to generate breakthrough alternative energy technologies... U-M researchers are also working with MSU on its project, which is led by Donald Morelli and is designed to improve thermoelectricity efficiency technology. MSU is the lead player on the 5-year, $12.5 million project, which also involves researchers at Wayne State University, Western Michigan University and elsewhere... The role of the University Research Corridor — a coalition between U-M, MSU and Wayne State — as a provider of basic energy research is critical to providing long-term energy breakthroughs.
(Ann Arbor Business Review, April 29, 2009)
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OBAMA: DEVOTE 3 PERCENT OF GDP TO RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

“I am here today to set this goal: we will devote more than three percent of our GDP to research and development. We will not just meet, but we will exceed the level achieved at the height of the Space Race, through policies that invest in basic and applied research, create new incentives for private innovation, promote breakthroughs in energy and medicine, and improve education in math and science.. “This represents the largest commitment to scientific research and innovation in American history.....This work begins with an historic commitment to basic science and applied research, from the labs of renowned universities to the proving grounds of innovative companies...Second, in no area will innovation be more important than in the development of new technologies to produce, use, and save energy... “Third, in order to lead in the global economy and ensure that our businesses can grow and innovate, and our families can thrive we must address the shortcomings of our health care system...“Fourth, we are restoring science to its rightful place.. Fifth, since we know that the progress and prosperity of future generations will depend on what we do now to educate the next generation, today I am announcing a renewed commitment to education in mathematics and science.”
(President Obama addressing the National Academy of Science, April 27, 2009)
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Michigan State Bioeconomy Institute offers lab space to Holland area businesses

The newly opened Holland Township facility will bring university researchers together with businesses to develop and bring to market plant-based products. The collaboration is expected to grow companies and generate higher-paying jobs. “We are just at the front end of promoting what we do,” said Randy Olinger, manager of the new BioEnterprise Center, the biotech incubator that is part of the Institute. The incubator is a partnership between MSU and Lakeshore Advantage, the economic development organization that laid the groundwork for the facility. He’s looking for small companies who want to lease lab space at the institute, and take full advantage of MSU’s vast resources to develop new products.
(The Grand Raids Press, April 11, 2009)
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GRAND RAPIDS PRESS EDITORIAL: U-M STRENGTHENS RESEARCH POSITION

The University of Michigan is launching a new embryonic stem cell initiative that will put the state at the forefront of this cutting-edge biomedical research. The timing couldn’t be better... Michigan is fortunate to have one of the nation’s premiere research universities on the job. U-M is in a strong position to acquire new federal research dollars and make the state more competitive as a location for the life sciences sector... U-M will be collaborating with other state research universities including Michigan State and Wayne State. That’s encouraging. Sharing of resources will be valuable to those universities and help grow partnerships and accelerate efforts that ultimately benefit the state and nation.... U-M has laid the necessary groundwork to make its research grant application for embryonic stem cell dollars very attractive. The University of Michigan is uniquely positioned to capitalize on this opportunity to advance important research and aid in life sciences, playing a bigger role in the state’s economic turnaround. That alone won’t cure our economic ills. But it will help.
(Grand Rapids Press editorial, March 19, 2009)
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TO DETROIT: FROM PITTSBURGH

So when I think about the lessons the Steel City’s 30-year economic transformation may hold for Detroit, another town built on an industry beaten by competition and confronting bankruptcy, I have to say that the first and hardest lesson for the Motor City is this: Fundamental change will be much longer in coming than you can imagine....The city’s second, still-ongoing period of transformation started in the mid-’90s. It has featured less hyperbole and a steady conversion to a high-end service economy with an emphasis on higher education and health care....Health and higher education are the largest employers, with 232,200 jobs as of January, but there are also more than 150,000 goods-producing jobs. As for steel, well, Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland now produce more of it than Pittsburgh does, but we still retain both basic and specialty steel plants, as well as 329 metals technology service firms providing steel production equipment, engineering services, parts and supplies and raw materials....Data from the last 10 years clearly suggest that the Motor City’s challenge is bigger than just making better cars. The city is dealing with long-term regional contraction. Since 2000, it has lost manufacturing jobs at a rate of 42 percent, nearly identical to Pittsburgh’s 44 percent loss of a quarter-century ago.
(John G. Craig Jr., president of Pittsburgh Regional Indicators, was editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from 1977 to 2003, in The Washington Post, March 22, 2009).
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CAN PITTSBURGH SAVE DETROIT?

Back in the ’70s and ’80s, Pittsburgh’s steel industry collapsed and hundreds of thousands of people left town. This is similar to what we’re seeing now in Detroit with the auto industry. Pittsburgh, in effect, died. It had to find a way to reinvent itself after it had been relying on just one industry for economic growth for so long. So Pittsburgh turned to what residents and local economists might call “recession-resistant” industries, like health care and education. Many locals call it the “Meds and Eds” economic approach. It seems to be working. The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center is now the biggest employer in town with 26,000 people. Carnegie Mellon University is well known for an innovative Robotics program, and biotech is hot here.
(CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360, March 18, 2009)
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MICHIGAN COULD BECOME A NATIONAL FORCE

Michigan is not the leader of the pack when it comes to life sciences. But if state government pays attention to the industry most likely to deliver the best return on investment, Michigan could become a national force, panelists said last week.... The fact that the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University all were ready to go as soon as the federal rules changed is a positive factor in attracting capital to the state, Auer added.
(Western Michigan Business Review, March 16, 2009)
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UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN’S $5 MILLION STEM CELL INITIATIVE LAUNCHES WITH A BANG

Anyone who doubts that the state’s research universities will lead much of our economic development over coming years needs to tune into today’s announcement by the University of Michigan. U-M shows over and over that increasing its visibility in this state in regards to the research here — and at partner institutions — is a priority on its campus. Today it showed that raising its profile off-campus, too: U-M threw a stem cell party. And turnout was strong: Researchers and administrators held center court at the afternoon press conference, turning what in years past might have been a pretty mild written statement into a hands-on, open-access event that will play well in media outlets near and statewide. It’s an event that seems to mark an official turning point in U-M media strategy: We’re just not seeing the “$5 million isn’t much” mentality these days when U-M launches new initiatives. Instead, the U-M is laying them out very publicly, with opportunities to hear and learn from the people driving them. We saw it in December with the Pfizer property purchase announcement. And we saw it today, even though the stem cell effort carries a price tag of less than 5 percent of the Pfizer buy. It’s a smart strategy that builds the brand of U-M as both a research center and economic driver.... Collaborations also are possible with its University Research Corridor partners, Michigan State University and Wayne State University, as well as Oakland University, U-M Dearborn and Case Western Reserve University in Ohio.
(Paula Gardner, Michigan Business Review, March 9, 2009)
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OBAMA TELLS CONGRESS: ANSWERS IN OUR LABORATORIES AND UNIVERSITIES

The weight of this crisis will not determine the destiny of this nation. The answers to our problems don’t lie beyond our reach. They exist in our laboratories and universities; in our fields and our factories; in the imaginations of our entrepreneurs and the pride of the hardest-working people on Earth.
(President Barack Obama, first address to joint session of Congress, Feb. 24, 2009)
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OBAMA: BOLD ACTION AND IDEAS

History reminds us that at every moment of economic upheaval and transformation, this nation has responded with bold action and big ideas. In the midst of civil war, we laid railroad tracks from one coast to another that spurred commerce and industry. From the turmoil of the Industrial Revolution came a system of public high schools that prepared our citizens for a new age. In the wake of war and depression, the GI Bill sent a generation to college and created the largest middle-class in history.

And a twilight struggle for freedom led to a nation of highways, an American on the moon, and an explosion of technology that still shapes our world. In each case, government didn’t supplant private enterprise; it catalyzed private enterprise. It created the conditions for thousands of entrepreneurs and new businesses to adapt and to thrive....We are a nation that has seen promise amid peril, and claimed opportunity from ordeal. Now we must be that nation again. That is why, even as it cuts back on the programs we don’t need, the budget I submit will invest in the three areas that are absolutely critical to our economic future: energy, health care, and education.
(President Barack Obama, first address to joint session of Congress, Feb. 24, 2009)
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THE COUNTRIES THAT OUT-TEACH US TODAY WILL OUT-COMPETE US TOMORROW

In a global economy where the most valuable skill you can sell is your knowledge, a good education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity – it is a pre-requisite. Right now, three-quarters of the fastest-growing occupations require more than a high school diploma. And yet, just over half of our citizens have that level of education. We have one of the highest high school out rates of any industrialized nation. And half of the students who begin college never finish. This is a prescription for economic decline, because we know the countries that out-teach us today will out-compete us tomorrow.

And so tonight, I ask every American to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training. This can be community college or a four-year school; vocational training or an apprenticeship. But whatever the training may be, every American will need to get more than a high school diploma. And dropping out of high school is no longer an option. It’s not just quitting on yourself, it’s quitting on your country – and this country needs and values the talents of every American. That is why we will provide the support necessary for you to complete college and meet a new goal: by 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.
(President Barack Obama, first address to joint session of Congress, Feb. 24, 2009)
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WE WILL MAKE SURE THAT YOU CAN AFFORD A HIGHER EDUCATION

I know that the price of tuition is higher than ever, which is why if you are willing to volunteer in your neighborhood or give back to your community or serve your country, we will make sure that you can afford a higher education. And to encourage a renewed spirit of national service for this and future generations, I ask this Congress to send me the bipartisan legislation that bears the name of Senator Orrin Hatch as well as an American who has never stopped asking what he can do for his country – Senator Edward Kennedy.
(President Barack Obama, first address to joint session of Congress, Feb. 24, 2009)
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UPDATE: MAIN BACK IN MICHIGAN AS HEAD OF MEDC

Michael Finney, CEO of regional economic development group Ann Arbor SPARK, said Main should leverage the MEDC platform to build stronger ties with the state’s University Research Corridor — a coalition between the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University. “There are some wonderful opportunities to engage our universities more aggressively,” Finney said. “We view them as just wonderful resources that can help drive positive economic activity in our state, and that’s probably one of the biggest opportunities that’s sitting out there for Greg Main coming in — and hopefully he’ll embrace that.”
(Oakland Business Review, February 19, 2009)
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NEXTENERGY’S NEW CEO COOLEY: MICHIGAN PUSH AHEAD ON ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Still, Keith Cooley, the new CEO of Detroit-based economic development group NextEnergy, believes Michigan can’t afford to push the pause button on alternative energy.... Do you think the University Research Corridor is doing enough right now to leverage the existing technology they have and drive growth for the economy? They’re doing a good job, but I think with our help we can all do better. There are major opportunities either in place or about to be put in place with the stimulus package coming up. To get the University of Michigan, Wayne State and Michigan State together and involved in some of these projects around solar or wind or hydrogen or biodiesel is going to be a pretty neat piece of work.
(Ann Arbor Business Review, February 19, 2009)
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HOW THE CRASH WILL RESHAPE AMERICA

Economic crises tend to reinforce and accelerate the underlying, long-term trends within an economy. Our economy is in the midst of a fundamental long-term transformation — similar to that of the late 19th century, when people streamed off farms and into new and rising industrial cities. In this case, the economy is shifting away from manufacturing and toward idea-driven creative industries — and that, too, favors America’s talent-rich, fast-metabolizing places....

In November, nationwide unemployment in manufacturing and production occupations was already 9.4 percent. Compare that with the professional occupations, where it was just a little over 3 percent. According to an analysis done by Michael Mandel, the chief economist at BusinessWeek, jobs in the “tangible” sector — that is, production, construction, extraction, and transport — declined by nearly 1.8 million between December 2007 and November 2008, while those in the intangible sector — what I call the “creative class” of scientists, engineers, managers, and professionals — increased by more than 500,000....

As homeownership rates have risen, our society has become less nimble: in the 1950s and 1960s, Americans were nearly twice as likely to move in a given year as they are today. Last year fewer Americans moved, as a percentage of the population, than in any year since the Census Bureau started tracking address changes, in the late 1940s. This sort of creeping rigidity in the labor market is a bad sign for the economy, particularly in a time when businesses, industries, and regions are rising and falling quickly....

Next, we need to encourage growth in the regions and cities that are best positioned to compete in the coming decades: the great mega-regions that already power the economy, and the smaller, talent-attracting innovation centers inside them — places like Silicon Valley, Boulder, Austin, and the North Carolina Research Triangle.
(Urban theorist Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the Creative Class, writing in The Atlantic, March 2009)
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WAYNE COUNTY EXECUTIVE ROBERT FICANO: URC GREATEST MEDICAL RESEARCH ASSETS

“Wayne State and its University Research Corridor partners, the University of Michigan and Michigan State, are the greatest medical research assets we have in Michigan, and now we have a chance to share that brainpower with the rest of the world,” (Wayne County Executive Robert) Ficano told WWJ radio. “TechTown’s Stem Cell Commercialization Center will be a place where researchers collaboratively accelerate the development of life-saving drugs, and create high-tech companies that bring those treatments to the global marketplace.”
(Future Michigan, February 17, 2009)
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FICANO VENTURE AIMS TO LURE STEM CELL WORK TO WAYNE COUNTY

Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano said Thursday that county government will partner with Tech Town at Wayne State University to try to bring embryonic stem cell business to southeast Michigan. The announcement at Ficano’s State of the County address in Canton follows approval in November of a state ballot proposal easing restrictions on embryonic stem cell research. Proponents say the research could produce solutions to medical mysteries and diseases. Wayne’s Stem Cell Commercialization Center will aid firms considering coming to Michigan for stem cell research and business. It will provide access to lab space, seed money for start-up companies and information on tax incentives.
(Detroit Free Press, February 13, 2009)

URC CITED IN DETROIT MAYOR’S STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS

TechTown, the University Research Corridor and other high-tech incubators and magnet facilities also can make a difference. While we have led the world in automobile manufacturing we can lead again in harnessing our talent and existing infrastructure to develop more business opportunities and create jobs. Such diversification in industry is key to the diversification of our economy.
(The Detroit Free Press, February 10, 2009)
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ENERGY FUNDING PUSH IS COMING

Of all public policy issues, none holds as much promise — or is fraught with as much danger — for Michigan as energy policy...James Duderstadt, University of Michigan president from 1988-96 and a nuclear engineer by training, led the study team and will present the Brookings proposal to boost U.S. energy research spending as much as tenfold, from its current $3 billion a year to between $20 billion and $30 billion. He is to be introduced at Monday’s event by Keith Cooley, president of NextEnergy, the nonprofit incubator and test bed for alternative energy research in Detroit. The Brookings proposal calls for about $6 billion of that money to be plowed annually into regional innovation programs. Major research universities, such as the University of Michigan and Michigan State, would compete to host the programs in partnership with local companies...The $3-billion federal research budget for energy is a pittance, compared with $84 billion this year for defense research, $30 billion in health and medicine, and $13 billion on the space program. Private industry spending on energy research is also pretty lame. Duderstadt said the dog food industry spends a higher portion of its sales on research than the energy industry, and the pharmaceutical industry spends 10 times as much...

It’s a big idea, with lots of potential benefit for the nation and specifically for Michigan....There will be doubters, of course, but many people have been saying for years that we need something like an Apollo moon-shot approach to our intractable fossil-fuel dependence problem. Duderstadt said the Brookings proposal is more like the Hatch Act of 1887 that helped modernize the U.S. agriculture industry by providing grants to states for agricultural experiment stations at land-grant colleges. Whatever the analogy, it sounds like a program Michigan needs to support and tap into early and often.
(Tom Walsh, Detroit Free Press, February 8, 2009)
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RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES CAN RE-INVENT MIDWEST ECONOMY

We should take great pride in knowing that the Great Lakes region is home to more of the world’s top-ranked universities than any comparable region on the globe. When Shanghai Jiao Tong University — one of China’s leading research universities — created a list of 100 best universities in the world, 20 of them were here in the Great Lakes states. That’s one in five world-class institutions in our backyard — more than in the Northeast with the likes of Harvard and MIT, and more than along the West Coast, with Berkeley and UCLA....That is why I believe so strongly in alliances at the University of Michigan, because as leaders we must find new partners — new teammates — to expand our successes....That includes a new enterprise we call the University Research Corridor. Where North Carolina has the Research Triangle and Northern California has Silicon Valley, the state of Michigan has the University Research Corridor. Our university has joined with Michigan State and Wayne State University in Detroit to create a team committed to advancing the region’s economy. Think about Case Western, Cleveland State, and Ohio State coming together as partners, and you will have a sense of the University Research Corridor. Now, there is no doubt that our universities have our rivalries — no one enjoys beating Michigan State more than I do. But the URC is about the real playing field — the global economy and our state’s role in it. By combining the research muscle of these three institutions, we are saying to the people of Michigan: We are making our state stronger. The University Research Corridor generates more than 69,000 jobs and $13 billion in economic impact. And we are a jobs magnet that is growing ever more powerful. In the past seven weeks alone, the URC has announced five projects that could lead to almost 18,000 new jobs. That includes a decision by IBM to locate a global computing center at Michigan State, and a move by a Massachusetts firm to locate in metropolitan Detroit to build advanced batteries for hybrid and plug-in vehicles. This growth is made possible by working with our cities and our state. And it comes on the heels of attracting what you might call two “anchor” companies: Google selected Ann Arbor for its first office outside of Silicon Valley, and Aernnova, a Spanish aerospace firm, opened a North American center in town because of our strong engineering culture. Students in our aerospace engineering program like to wear a T-shirt that says, “As a matter of fact, I am a rocket scientist.” But you don’t need an engineering degree to appreciate the power of research universities to propel the economy. Attracting companies like Google and Aernnova acutely demonstrates how the University Research Corridor can — and does — make our state a leader in supporting innovative and entrepreneurial firms. The URC is only two years old, and we are just now taking baby steps. I attended graduate school at the University of North Carolina just as the Research Triangle was taking shape; I returned to Chapel Hill many years later as an administrator and was pleasantly stunned by the collaboration between UNC, Duke and North Carolina State. These partnerships take time, and I can’t wait to see where the URC will take us. Collaboration is our future. Whether we pull together scientists from opposite ends of our campus or opposite sides of the country, we must call upon our best people to develop solutions for our future. Academe is known for saying, “Publish or perish.” I say, “Partner or perish.”
(U-M President Mary Sue Coleman, addressing the City Club of Cleveland, February 6, 2009)
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SITE SELECTION MAGAZINE: HOW ARE YOU HELPING COMPANIES GROW?
MICHIGAN’S STATE UNIVERSITY LEADERS RESPOND TO A SINGLE QUESTION

“Four years of tuition at a Michigan public university costs about the same as a new mid-priced automobile.” That’s what two university presidents wrote in an October 2008 commentary in the Grand Rapids Press. The sentence, with its well-chosen car comparison, captures in a nutshell the state’s economic predicament and its value. Another comparison was at play in a spring 2008 presentation by John C. Burkhardt, of the National Forum on Higher Education for the Public Good. Playing on the Great Lakes regional slogan that “water is the new oil,” he closed his talk by asserting, “Smart is the new water.”...MSU’s economic development leadership involves work with the Lansing Economic Area Partnership, as well as recently partnering with the city of East Lansing and other members of the Lansing Regional SmartZone to create the East Lansing Technology Innovation Center to help entrepreneurs develop high-tech ventures. It’s also part of the University Research Corridor triumvirate (along with Wayne State University in Detroit and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor) that collectively helped generate 69,285 jobs, educated more students than any of the nation’s best comparable R&D clusters and produced $13.3 billion in economic impact in 2007, according to a URC report.
(Site Selection Magazine, January 2009).
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HOPE FOR MICHIGAN’S FUTURE IS IN UNIVERSITY RESEARCH CORRIDOR

University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman may be a biochemist by training, but she knows exactly how stricken her adopted state’s economy is. Nevertheless, she thinks there is hope for the Michigan’s future, hope you can outline with a series of short lines on a map....Welcome to the University Research Corridor, a concept the state’s three largest universities put together less than three years ago to "transform, strengthen and diversify Michigan’s economy.”

“The idea was to put together the strengths of the three universities — which really are quite complimentary — and let our faculty know that we really want to work together,” she said. The idea is to create a synergy of power and talent, and research potential that will hopefully help attract major grants, get some of the state’s most talented experts to work together and find ways to turn Michigan and its economy around. Her enthusiasm is shared by Wayne State’s new president, Jay Noren, who arrived this summer from the University of Nebraska. “I don’t know of a case anywhere in the country where you have three major universities that are so powerful and so diverse so close to each other,” he told me soon after he arrived.... But it is clear that the more the three universities act as a consortium, the more attractive the area will be.

Especially, that is, to precisely the kind of high-tech and international businesses Michigan needs to attract, if it hopes to rebuild prosperity in the wake of the shrinking auto industry.
(Jack Lessnberry, The Toledo Blade, Metro Times, Traverse City Record-Eagle and the Windsor Star, January 30, 2009)
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EDUCATION CHIEF: SCHOOLS CRUCIAL TO RECOVERY

WASHINGTON — Education Secretary Arne Duncan said the economy won’t improve without the billions of dollars for schools in President Barack Obama’s recovery plan. “If we want to stimulate the economy, we need a better-educated workforce,” Duncan said Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press. “That’s the only way, long-term, we’re going to get out of this economic crisis,” he said.
(The Associated Press, January 30, 2009)

THE NATIONAL SUMMIT IS GATHERING TO DEFINE AMERICA’S FUTURE

American ingenuity is sought from the dorm room to the board room. Partners in the Innovation Celebration include: the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Detroit Regional Chamber, and University Research Corridor. William Clay Ford Jr., Executive Chairman, Ford Motor Company, and Andrew Liveris President, CEO and Chairman, The Dow Chemical Company, are co-chairmen of The National Summit.
(Beth Chappell, president and CEO of the Detroit Economic Club in the Michigan Business Review, January 30, 2009)
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MSU REPORT: USE MICHIGAN’S ‘BROWNFIELDS’ AS ENERGY PARKS TO GENERATE JOBS

Researchers at Michigan State University released a report Tuesday recommending the redevelopment of unused or underutilized industrial areas around the state as renewable energy parks. The report suggests some of these “brownfields” could be used for the installation of solar panels or wind turbines capable of generating an estimated 5,855 megawatts of electricity — enough to power about 1.8 million, or nearly 50 percent, of Michigan’s homes. The study estimates that transforming brownfields into renewable energy parks would stimulate an investment of more than $15 billion in solar and wind energy equipment and related construction. It also would create 17,500 short- and long-term job opportunities. “The opportunities are extremely huge,” said Soji Adelaja, director of Michigan State’s Land Policy Institute and the report’s lead author. To establish Michigan as a leader in the renewable energy industry, the study recommends that the state amend current brownfield-redevelopment guidelines to fast-track renewable energy projects and make funding a priority.
(The Associated Press, January 27, 2009)

MICHIGAN BECOMES KNOWN FOR ITS BRAINS, NOT JUST ITS BRAWN

Michigan’s future as the brain-powered center for innovation, discovery and manufacturing isn’t just talk anymore. It’s becoming very real. In rapid-fire succession in the past six weeks, Michigan leaped to the fore in the sciences of nuclear physics, laid the foundation to take over a massive pharmaceutical complex and began a quest for the best automotive battery. The bottom line for Michiganders:

In early December, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams to Michigan State University in East Lansing. The particle accelerator is expected to bring 400 jobs and $1 billion in economic activity to our state. The $550 million project could become a focus of research for as many as 1,000 scientists worldwide. They’ll examine the forces that bind atoms, discover new particles and their quirks and help explain the very nature of stars and the universe. This is as basic — and hard-core — as science gets. A realistic budget with eyes wide open convinced Department of Energy officials to award the project to MSU over its competitor, University of Chicago/Argonne National Laboratory LLC. Also last month, the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor announced plans to buy the nearby, now-empty, 30-building Pfizer Inc. research campus for $108 million. If the deal is closed in June, as projected, it would create 2,000 jobs — many of them laboratory jobs in drug and medical research. Then, at the North American Auto Show in Detroit this month, Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed into law a bill that offers $335 million in tax credits for automotive battery research. A few days later, General Motors Corp. announced plans for a $30 million plant in Michigan, possibly the Detroit area, to assemble lithium-ion automotive batteries for the next generation of electric vehicles. Those batteries will be made of South Korean lithium-ion cells. But GM is looking farther ahead. It’s joining U of M in a $5 million partnership for battery research....But where cutting-edge scientists gather is where other scientists want to be. It’s where companies form to capitalize on discoveries coming out of those labs. Increasingly, that place is Michigan.Thanks in large part to the vision of our leaders, who years ago peered into the future and agreed that it requires brains, and nowhere near the unschooled brawn of our automaking heyday. It’s why our brawling legislators and Gov. Granholm have, through the years, put aside their differences to boost the brain power in our state. One of those successes is the Michigan Merit Curriculum, first imposed upon the class of 2011 last year. The tough math and science requirements are causing many of those students no end of after-school study and anxiety. Stick with it, students, teachers and lawmakers. A top-notch math and science education is key to our state’s grand plan for the future. That strategy for science was slow to start. Now, though, it’s starting to snowball.
(Bay City Times editorial, January 25, 2009)
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MICHIGAN, FIND MONEY FOR UNIVERSITIES

Michigan residents and their leaders have to decide soon if they are serious about investing in their public colleges and universities. Lou Anna Simon has some advice on that point. It’s rather bold, but there’s no disputing the Michigan State University president’s basic premise: Michigan needs its universities to power its economic transformation. "The value of the investment is clear," Simon said this month during a visit with the LSJ Editorial Board. (Go to www.mogulus.com/lansingstatejournalto view Simon’s comments.)...Simon is known for choosing words carefully — and she knows of what she speaks. In the last six weeks alone, MSU landed:

And in between these announcements, MSU continues the work of educating more than 45,000 students, the vast majority of whom come from Michigan. Still, MSU and the rest of Michigan’s 14 public universities have found state lawmakers aren’t convinced of the bargain — at least judging by the money....More must be done on higher education for one simple reason — it pays off.
(Lansing State Journal editorial, January 25, 2009)
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EDUCATION: PACKAGING GRANT TO MSU

Coca-Cola Co. has awarded $400,000 to Michigan State University’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources to help establish a new Center for Packaging Innovation and Sustainability. The planned center, to be housed in the MSU School of Packaging, will serve as a think tank for packaging innovation and sustainability and a research and education hub to measure and reduce packaging’senvironmental impact. The Coca-Cola grant represents the initiating gift in a campaign to establish the global center. “The Coca-Cola Co. is honored to collaborate with Michigan State University in its quest to bring corporate, academic and packaging professionals together to foster new ideas in sustainable packaging,” said Ingrid Saunders Jones, senior vice president of global community connections for Coca-Cola.
(Detroit Free Press, January 25, 2009)

TRANSFORMING THE REGION

Detroit Renaissance is working to develop a more robust business-university partnership that leverages one of our strongest assets in Michigan — our public universities. We applaud the formation of the University Research Corridor and initiatives being taken by higher education to advance economic development. But we think these efforts can be enhanced by having business play an active role in helping to identify future research needs, utilize graduating talent and partnering to develop emerging industry sectors.
(James B. Nicholson, president and CEO of PVS Chemicals Inc. and Sandra E. Price, president and CEO of Charter One Bank, January 25, 2009)
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ANTICIPATING STIMULUS MONEY FOR CAMPUS PROJECTS, COLLEGES GET ‘SHOVEL READY’

In almost the same breath in his inauguration speech this week, President Obama touted green technology and his desire for higher education to make changes to meet America’s evolving needs. “We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories,” he said. “And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age.”
(The Chronicle of Higher Education, January 23, 2009)

FOR PITTSBURGH, THERE’S LIFE AFTER STEEL

A generation ago, the steel industry that built Pittsburgh and still dominated its economy entered its death throes. In the early 1980s, the city was being talked about the way Detroit is now. Its very survival was in question. Deindustrialization in Pittsburgh was a protracted and painful experience. Yet it set the stage for an economy that is the envy of many recession-plagued communities, particularly those where the automobile industry is struggling for its life...A development plan begun in the 1980s successfully used the local universities to pour state funds into technology research. Entrepreneurship bloomed in computer software and biotechnology. Two of the biggest sectors are education and health care, among the most resistant to downturns...About 4 percent of Michigan workers make cars and parts, with many more employed in related fields. Few regions are as dependent on a single heavy industry. But the history of Pittsburgh, where steel workers fell from as much as 10 percent of the work force in 1980 to less than 1 percent today, offers proof that revitalization is possible.
(New York Times, January 23, 2009)
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MSU’S NEW CELLULOSIC ETHANOL BREAKTHROUGH IS CHEAP, EFFICIENT

A new process invented by Michigan State University helps to increase the yields of cellulosic ethanol at a reasonable premium. Bruce Dale, University Distinguished Professor of chemical engineering and materials science at the university, has invented a cheap pretreatment process...It’s 75 percent more efficient than with traditional enzyme treatments says Professor Dale, and is easier and more affordable than acid pretreatments.
(Daily Tech, January 22, 2009)
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Editorial: Worthy investment

As lawmakers grapple with budget shortfalls, they should steer clear of cuts that undermine the state’s economic revival.....U-M is a part of that other Big Three that includes Michigan State University and Wayne State University. The trio account for most of the research done by universities in Michigan. Collectively they generated 69,285 jobs and produced $13.3 billion in economic impact last fiscal year. GM just announced it’s forming an advanced battery research partnership with U-M. The state is getting a good return on its investment. And breaking the Michigan Promise, when the need has never been greater, is just unwise.
(Grand Rapids Press editorial, January 16, 2008)
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Editorial: MSU-IBM project holds promise for future. Michigan State University aids transition to high-tech economy.

This is an example of the synergy between our state research universities and the private sector that is one of the most promising avenues for developing a new economy that is not so dependent on manufacturing, as important as that sector will remain in Michigan for the foreseeable future.
(The Detroit News, January 16, 2009)
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WE NEED HIGHER EDUCATION MORE THAN EVER

Some may question why tax dollars should go for higher education. The facts are clear. A highly educated work force benefits all in a community. Incomes and opportunities for every worker increase in states with high percentages of college graduates.
(Thomas J. Hass, president of Grand Valley State University and chairman of the Presidents Council, State Universities of Michigan, writing in the Oakland Press, January 16, 2009)
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OFFICIAL: REGION MUST TOUT ITS ASSETS

If Livingston County and southeast Michigan want to stay relevant in the technological and manufacturing sectors in the 21st century, the region will need to do a better job of promoting its assets. That’s the message delivered from the executive director of the Economic Development Council of Livingston County to the Livingston County Association of Realtors during its general membership meeting Wednesday. “Michigan has not realized the asset it has from a technological standpoint,” Fred Dillingham said. “You don’t ever hear the ‘Michigan Triangle’ mentioned.” That triangle is an oasis for talent and an area bordered by three universities: Wayne State University, Michigan State University and the University of Michigan.
(Livingston Daily Argus, January 15, 2009)
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IBM’s PLANNED CENTER A GODSEND FOR MSU, REGION FACILITY WOULD SPUR GROWTH IN LOCAL TECH SECTOR

Putting an IBM programming center on Michigan State University’s campus could help spur other growth in the Lansing region’s information technology sector, area business and government leaders say....Putting an IBM programming center on Michigan State University’s campus could help spur other growth in the Lansing region’s information technology sector, area business and government leaders say....The company said at the time it planned within five years to grow the Ann Arbor office to 1,000 people. State officials estimated that could help create 1,245 spinoff jobs for companies catering to Google and its employees. State officials say International Business Machines Corp.’s East Lansing office could create 1,500 direct and indirect jobs in five years, based on conversations with company officials... The region has about 300 IT companies that employ nearly 4,500 people, according to an April 2007 report by Capital Area Michigan Works.
(Lansing State Journal, Jan. 15, 2009)
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ANOTHER MICHIGAN JOBS BOOST: IBM COMING TO MSU

In an announcement that again brings into focus the role of university research in an economy desperate for high-paying jobs, IBM will establish a global delivery center on the Michigan State University campus... MSU is a partner in the University Research Corridor with the University of Michigan and Wayne State University, a partnership that — according to a report the universities commissioned last year — generated 69,285 jobs and more than $13 billion in economic activity in 2007. With such research power at universities, it only makes sense for the schools to capitalize on it, said Randal Charlton, head of Wayne State’s TechTown....“Where did Microsoft come from? Not from a big corporation but a guy named Bill Gates who was a student. Facebook? Also a student,” Charlton said....UNIVERSITY PLANS AND JOBS As Michigan’s economy sputters, universities are taking a higher-profile role in creating jobs — whether in providing research, expanding medical schools and facilities or providing support for fledgling business. Highlights:

NEW IBM APPLICATIONS DEVELOPMENT CENTER AT MSU PROMISES JOB GROWTH IN MICHIGAN

Michigan State University is announcing this morning that IBM [NYSE: IBM] will invest in a Global Delivery Center for Application Services on the East Lansing campus. It’s a joint effort — and the first is the U.S. for IBM — among the state’s economic development team, the university and the global computer giant.... State officials tout the estimated 100 jobs that the endeavor is initially promising by mid-year, but the other gain in Michigan seems to be this: Its major universities firmly establishing themselves as economic engines. The MSU announcement is the latest in a wave of example of how Michigan’s research universities are forging business relationships that promise industry diversification for the state’s economy. An example from Monday was the announcement by General Motors Corp. that it would produce lithium-ion batteries for its Chevrolet Volt in Michigan — along with setting up a $5 million advanced battery center at the University of Michigan. And the big story from late 2008 was MSU landing a $550 million nuclear physics research facility. In Ann Arbor, U-M even drove the biggest real estate deal of the year with the announcement that it was concluding negotiations to buy the 2-million-square-foot former Pfizer research facility. Now comes the investment by IBM — which has a market capitalization of $115 billion — signifying the relationship and potential business growth in East Lansing....But all of Michigan also needs to watch and recognize what this means for our future: Our state universities — which already possess global brand identity — are poised to be our strongest bridges to economic growth.
(MLive, January 13, 2009)
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GM PLANS COULD CREATE JOBS
VOLT PLANT, U-M DEAL OFFER JOBS AFTER YEARS OF CUTS

General Motors Corp., in announcing long-awaited decisions Monday about batteries for its Chevrolet Volt, said it would take steps that keep Michigan at the forefront of a progressive, new auto industry The announcement had been expected, but GM surprised the industry by saying that battery development was too important to leave outside the company, and that it would begin hiring engineers, expanding research facilities and partnering with the University of Michigan...GM also announced Monday a partnership with the University of Michigan to create an advanced battery lab in Ann Arbor and have the university’s engineering school develop specialized curriculum to develop automotive battery engineers. A $5-million award from GM will establish the GM/U-M Advanced Battery Coalition for Drivetrains, the university said. “We’re building a roster of battery suppliers and academic experts from around the globe,” Wagoner said, “and leveraging their specialized abilities to develop battery chemistries and cell designs.”
(Detroit Free Press, January 13, 2009)
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GRANHOLM CALLS FOR FEDERAL R&D FUNDING

Gov. Jennifer Granholm says the federal government needs to invest more in research and development for auto-related alternative energy technologies such as the batteries for electric cars...Granholm says it will help the industry “compete in a global economy.” She says tax credits for people who buy electric cars also would help.
(The Associated Press, January 13, 2009)
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PHIL POWER: STATE’S FUTURE COMES INTO FOCUS

The impact of new firms spun out from discoveries in university labs has been relatively slight, measured against our entire economy. But two recent events provide hope that things may soon take off on a much larger scale. Last month, the University of Michigan announced it would buy the entire vacant Pfizer research campus in Ann Arbor for $108 million. At 176 acres and 2 million square feet of modern laboratory space, the deal may be the biggest real estate steal in recent memory. More to the point, the U-M says that over the next decade, the site will be used to create 2,000 new high-paying, public-private research jobs, mostly in the health sciences. Also, the U.S. Department of Energy picked Michigan State University as the winner of a national competition for the Isotope Science Facility, a high energy atom smasher designed to explore how new elements are formed. Construction of the new $550 million facility will take a decade and require additional federal funding.But that lab, too, should generate substantial spin-off economic activity once it gets going.....These days, it’s conventional wisdom for the sneerocracy to write off Michigan’s future. But these elements of our future, even though seen darkly today, are real, ready to take form in the mist. They can provide hope for a prosperous future and an agenda for our state’s leaders — if we have the courage and will to act on them.
(Phil Power, Center for Michigan, January 8, 2008)
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TEST SPIN ON WSU DRIVING SIMULATOR SHOWS HOW SCIENTISTS NOW STUDY SAFETY

I didn’t do so bad in a high-tech driving simulator unveiled Wednesday at Wayne State University....The university showed off its driving simulator at a lab in its Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.... It’s part of the University Research Corridor, a partnership of Wayne State, Michigan State University and the University of Michigan to generate technologies and new business opportunities to boost the state’s economy. Pellerito said using the simulator will help researchers understand how to fight fatigue from long, monotonous drives.
(The Detroit , January 8, 2009)
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BATTERY MAKES A123 SYSTEMS TO BRING JOBS TO SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN

A123 Systems says the plant will be the first of several across the country that could eventually employ 14,000 people and supply batteries for 5 million hybrid vehicles or 500,000 plug-in hybrids by 2013....A123 currently operates an office in Ann Arbor, and partners with both the University of Michigan and Michigan State University. Under the terms of the state grant, both U-M and MSU will get a small portion of the state funding to conduct research for A123. U-M will research manufacturing system design, performance and processes. MSU will research battery materials and electrode design.
(Detroit Free Press, January 7, 2009)
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MICHIGAN UNIVERSITIES STEP UP TO HELP CREATE JOBS

During the past college football season, fans at Spartan Stadium wore T-shirts emblazoned with this cryptic message: "Bring FRIB to our crib."... FRIB stands for the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, a $550 million project that Michigan State was awarded by the Department of Energy on Dec. 11....Not to be outdone, the University of Michigan announced Dec. 18 it was spending $108 million to purchase the 174-acre Ann Arbor site vacated in 2007 by Pfizer Inc. U-M plans to use the 30-building complex to expand research in life sciences, creating 2,000 research-related jobs over the next 10 years. That research could lead to dozens of new businesses and possibly thousands of new jobs. "This is some of the best news we’ve had in the state," said Mike Boulus, executive director of the Presidents Council, State Universities of Michigan, which represents the state’s 15 public universities. Michigan State’s FRIB and U-M’s purchase are high-profile examples of how universities throughout Michigan are taking a prominent role in trying to rescue the state’s troubled economy. The universities were once largely uninterested in dirtying their hands by working with local governments and businesses to create jobs....Today, every public university in the state can point to some initiative with business or government that has job creation as its focus. The universities also are increasing the number of students they graduate — up 6 percent between 2005 and 2007 — boosting the quality of the state’s labor force. And they’re creating internships and other initiatives to keep graduates in Michigan.
(Rick Haglund, MLive, January 7, 2008)
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SOME GOOD NEWS FROM MICHIGAN FOR A CHANGE

The Kauffman Foundation, which focuses on entrepreneurship, benchmarked all 50 states on their abilities to compete in a global economy. Michigan is ranked 17th overall. OK, think about that. We’re NOT in the bottom 10. We’re in the top 20. The reason? On the Kauffman list, we’re No. 2 on research and development — largely because of the auto industry. But probably also because of the state’s three world-class universities and enviable medical research in Southeast Michigan and Grand Rapids.
(Mary Kramer, publisher of Crain’s Detroit Business, January 6, 2009)

CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS NEWSMAKERS OF THE YEAR: MARY SUE COLEMAN

It was a year of making history, earning distinctions and defying the larger economic trend for Southeast Michigan at the University of Michigan under President Mary Sue Coleman. In November, UM reached a record $3.12 billion in the Michigan Difference capital campaign, launched in 2000. That put it ahead of the $3.05 billion raised by the University of California at Los Angeles in 2005 and was the largest amount ever raised by a public university. In mid-December the school announced it would buy the 2- million-square-foot former Pfizer Inc. campus in Ann Arbor for $108 million, with $12 million set aside by the university for environmental cleanup. Coleman has said the move will lead to about 2,000 new jobs at the site over the next 10 years. The drugmaker announced in January 2007 it was closing its campus of 25 buildings.
(Crain’s Detroit Business, January 5, 2009)

EDITORIAL: OUR PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES ARE WORTHY INVESTMENTS

This state’s public university system — and in particular its three largest research universities, Michigan, Michigan State and Wayne State — have provide-d an important boost to an otherwise flagging state economy. When pharmaceutical giant Pfizer decided in January 2007 to close its Ann Arbor campus, more than 2,000 highly educated scientists were put out of work. Now the University of Michigan has announced plans to purchase the unoccupied facility for $108 million. The 2 million square feet in new laboratory space at the 174-acre facility helps the university meet a demand for research space that has come to exceed its available supply....Michigan State University was recently named as the site of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Facility for Rare Isotope Beams. Michigan State had to beat out Department of Energy-operated Argonne National Laboratory to gain the honor....Wayne State University’s TechTown, meanwhile, will collaborate with Automation Alley to aid local entrepreneurs, particularly those in the auto industry, as they bring their products and services to market... To invest in state universities is to invest in the state economy. Several times in this state’s long-running recession, appropriations to public universities have been cut. As policymakers look for ways to confront looming state deficits, it will be tempting to again make the universities shoulder an undue burden, in the expectation that tuition-paying students will cover the loss. But in this economy, they won’t be able to. And the financial foundation of the universities would suffer. That would be a mistake. As the state looks to transition from manufacturing to become a hub for the high-skilled, knowledge economy jobs of the future, Michigan’s public universities must help lead the way.
(The Detroit News, December 31, 2009)
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U-M TO BUY FORMER PFIZER RESEARCH SITE

ANN ARBOR — The University of Michigan will spend $108 million to buy the former Pfizer research and development facility in Ann Arbor, a move leaders say will create 2,000 jobs over the next decade, jump-start research activity and mark the university’s largest campus expansion since 1950....“This represents our belief in ourselves, our belief in Ann Arbor and our belief in the state of Michigan,” U-M President Mary Sue Coleman said Thursday. “We are going to be part of the transformation of the Michigan economy.”...The announcement follows the U.S. Department of Energy’s decision last week that Michigan State University will house a $550 million Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, which will create 400 permanent jobs. Coleman reiterated Thursday that the state’s University Research Corridor institutions — U-M, MSU and Wayne State University — have the knowledge and power to incite real economic change in Michigan.
(The Detroit News, December 19, 2009)
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HOLY ISOTOPES! MICHIGAN WINS ONE
MSU’S COMING RESEARCH FACILITY GIVES MICHIGAN REASON TO HOPE FOR ITS ECONOMIC FUTURE

I had nothing to do with it, but I felt as if “we” finally won one. And a good one — one that sends a signal that Michigan is worth saving, that not all the smart people are bailing, that there are more than laid-off workers and idle factories here. Good heavens, there is a public university network here that takes a back seat to no others; there is real science going on, with important research and major potential.
(Ron Dwonkowski, Detroit Free Press, December 14, 2008)
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EDITORIAL: USE NEW MSU LAB TO BOOST STATE ECONOMY
RARE ISOTOPE FACILITY COULD MICH.’S TOUGH TRANSITION

Just when Michigan needed a piece of really good news, it got it Thursday with the announcement that the federal Department of Energy chose Michigan State University as the recipient of its $550 million Facility for Rare Isotope Beams. The complex research lab will bring up to $1 billion in investment to Michigan and make MSU the premier institution in the nation for isotope research. MSU was chosen in a two-way competition, beating out the Department of Energy’s own Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois.... Michigan State will integrate the rare isotope facility into the University Research Corridor, its collaboration with the University of Michigan and Wayne State University. The corridor already boosts the regional economy by more than $1 billion annually and, in 2008, helped create almost 70,000 jobs. That number should increase in the future as the isotope facility creates high-tech jobs. MSU and President Simon should be applauded for their hard work in attracting a facility that holds so much promise for Michigan’s future.
(The Detroit News, December 12, 2008)
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MSU TO BECOME HOME TO $550 MILLION NUCLEAR PHYSICS FACILITY

Michigan State University will be home to a $550 million federal nuclear physics facility, beating out a prestigious national laboratory for the one-of-a-kind project that promises to boost the state’s economy and the university’s prestige. The U.S. Department of Energy announced today that MSU is its choice for the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, or FRIB, the biggest nuclear physics upgrade ever at the university and one that will solidify its spot as a world leader in rare isotope research, leaders say... Gaining the project is welcome news to the state’s beleaguered economy. The facility would create $1 billion in spending in Michigan and 400 new jobs over a decade, as well as $187 million in taxes over 20 years, according to economist Patrick Anderson.... With rare isotope research, scientists use big instruments to study something minute — the center of atom. Scientists create isotopes — different forms of an element — that are not otherwise found on Earth. The idea is that by studying these rare isotopes, scientists will have a better understanding such things as how elements were formed and what happens inside the stars. The research has practical applications for medical diagnostic equipment to treat cancer patients and for creating ways to test nuclear weapons without denotation.
(The Detroit News, December 11, 2008)
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Michigan makeover essential for business

The report, which you can see in full at www.detroitrenaissance.com/reports, puts us in a pretty unfavorable light in terms of costs, economic activity, education levels and reputation. But there are some positive pockets: an abundance of engineering talent, more research-development activity than almost any other state, a world-class university network (that is now, unfortunately, exporting Michigan brainpower), and “a quality of life” that is much better than its perception.
(Ron Dzwonkowski, Detroit Free Press, December 7, 2008)
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DINGELL, RESEARCH GROUP TO WIN HONOR

Dingell and the University Research Corridor — a two-year-old alliance among Wayne State University, Michigan State University, and the University of Michigan — will receive the awards at a Detroit Economic Group luncheon today at the Westin Book Cadillac. The awards are co-sponsored by The Detroit News. In honoring the universities, the organization cited the collaboration of three leading research institutions as unique “because a lot of times people are stuck in competition mode.”
(The Detroit News, December 2, 2008)
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FORBES: AMERICA’S BEST — AND WORST — EDUCATED CITIES

A look at America’s 10 best- and 10 worst-educated cities is a study in contrasts. The best-educated cities, as measured by the proportion of people older than 25 with bachelor’s, master’s, professional and doctoral degrees, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, are a collection of university, research and corporate havens with buoyant economies and low unemployment. Those at the other end of the scale tend to be — yet aren’t always — just the opposite... The most-educated city in America: Boulder, Colo....Other college cities topping the list are Ann Arbor, Mich., home to the University of Michigan... University jobs, research parks and tech companies pay solid salaries. The average income for the 10 best-educated cities is $35,000. In the 10 least-educated cities, by contrast, the average income is $19,000....But on the whole, the less-educated cities have weaker economies. According to September data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (the most recent month available) the 10 metropolitan areas atop the list have an average unemployment of 5.1%. The 10 at the bottom? 9.4%. The national average that month was 6%. In economically troubled states, education forms a safe haven for cities. Ann Arbor has the lowest unemployment rate of any city in Michigan, where struggling automakers Ford Motor, General Motors and Chrysler weigh on the economy....Is it the graduates that create the jobs, or the jobs that create the graduates? Durham, N.C., yields some clues. In the 1950s, universities and the government invested heavily to build a large research park to attract better jobs to the region. Over decades, the investment paid off richly, with the Research Triangle Park employing some 40,000 workers, many of them well-educated and high-paid, according to the Durham Chamber of Commerce.
(Forbes, November 24, 2008)
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MICHIGAN SCHOOLS RANK HIGH ON STUDY ABROAD LIST

A new report indicates Michgan universities are among the national leaders in the number of students studying abroad. The report from the Institute of International Education was released Monday. Michigan State University ranked second in the nation with 2,801 students studying abroad in 2006-07, the latest year for which figures are available. New York University ranked No. 1. The University of Michigan ranked sixth in the number of students studying abroad with 2,055. Nationwide study abroad numbers were up about 8 percent from the previous year. The University of Michigan ranked sixth in the number of international students on campus with 5,748 in 2007-08. Michigan State University ranked 15th with 4,244 international students.
(The Associated Press, November 17, 2008)

THE MICHIGAN DIFFERENCE

On the day the stock market plunged 777 points in its largest one-day loss ever, the University of Michigan announced it had launched 13 new businesses in the past year — more than one company a month brought to life by the technologies and inventions of Michigan faculty. In the week that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae collapsed, the University of Michigan unveiled plans for a new international program that explores budding democracies in east European countries once shrouded by the Iron Curtain. And on the day of the biggest financial bailout our country has seen, 15 U-M undergraduates were introduced as the latest recipients of more than 2,000 new scholarships and fellowships endowed at the University for students at all levels of their education. The University of Michigan is an investment unlike any other. It is an enterprise that advances worthy ideals, creates productive jobs, and opens the doors to infinite possibilities for the students who walk through them. All this, this transformative experience we call the Michigan Difference, all this is made possible with the power of philanthropy and people who believe in what we do. We are here today, and we will be here tomorrow, because of you.
(U-M President Mary Sue Coleman, November 14, 2008)
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Editorial: Top Michigan universities impact jobs

A recent report emphasizes the vital role the state’s three largest universities can play in Michigan’s quest to be one of the top economic regions in the nation. Last fiscal year, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University generated 69,285 jobs and produced $13.3 billion in economic impact. Gov. Jennifer Granholm and the Legislature should be exploring ways to protect this current investment and grow the enormous potential the universities represent in terms of new technologies, innovations and businesses that can provide desperately needed jobs. Businesses too, should continue to look for opportunities to collaborate with these internationally recognized research universities that are part of the answer to the state’s economic recovery. That’s not meant to diminish the impact the other 12 state universities are making or their important role. But the reality is these top schools are in a different class, as the report by East-Lansing’s Anderson Economic Group makes clear, and should be treated as such. An evaluation of the state’s university structure is long overdue in terms of where money is spent and how the system can operate more efficiently.

The idea of treating the three schools separately in the Legislature’s budgeting — a tier system abandoned in 2003 — has been discussed in recent years and most recently this spring. This latest report showing their role in the economy increasing only bolsters that case. The three schools are the only ones currently with medical schools — including MSU’s promising Grand Rapids campus — and account for more than 95 percent of the research done by universities in Michigan. In 2007, the universities brought in nearly $80 million in alternative energy research and development dollars, according to the report. This is an industry the state continues to be well-positioned to be a leader in. Besides evaluating economic impact, the report takes a look at how Michigan’s top research universities stack up against the nation’s six best comparable research and development university clusters, including schools in North Carolina’s Research Triangle, Boston’s 128 corridor and Silicon Valley/Northern California. Michigan’s alliance educated more students than the others and moved up in the number of patents issued, rising from fifth to fourth place (The ranking is an average based on patent and licensing activity for the period between 2002 and 2007). The schools also did better in terms of new technology licensing agreements with the private sector, moving from sixth to fifth place. But Michigan’s universities dropped from fourth to fifth place in total research and development expenditures. Still, that $1.38 billion in research investment in 2006 was up $10 million from 2005. But there needs to be greater research investment to maximize potential.

U-M, MSU and Wayne State comprise the state’s largest investment in science and engineering education. They are among the state’s most important economic development assets and Michigan — racked yesterday by news of a possible automaker merger that could cost 25,000 jobs — should be using them in every way possible.
(Grand Rapids Press editorial, November 1, 2008)

GOV. JENNIFER GRANHOLM PRAISES URC IN RADIO ADDRESS ON ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Michigan’s universities are working hard to attract renewable energy research and development funding. Working together as the University Research Corridor, Michigan State, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University received nearly $80 million in funding in 2007 for research and development activities in alternative energy — a significant increase over the year before. That’s $80 million to help spur economic development by moving new technology and innovation from the lab to the marketplace more quickly. Michigan is perfectly positioned to be a national renewable energy leader. We have all the right tools — we have natural resources, we have an outstanding workforce, we have manufacturing capacity, and we have R&D know-how. And if we continue to put in place progressive policies that encourage renewable energy development, and if we continue to provide our workers with the training they need, and if we continue to expand the funding available for research and develop, we will continue to celebrate jobs announcements in wind, solar, biofuels and more.
(Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s radio address, October 17, 2008)
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U-M ATOP U.S. SECTION OF WORLD UNIVERSITY RANKINGS

Hail to the Victors indeed. The University of Michigan is rated one of the top 18 universities in the world and was the highest ranked United States public university in the new 2008 World University Rankings released Wednesday night.
(WWJ, October 9, 2008)
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MICHIGAN STATE DESERVES EQUITABLE TREATMENT

Science, not politics, should determine where the Department of Energy’s premier new half-billion dollar nuclear research facility will be located. Graded on that basis, Michigan State University (MSU) has the clear edge over the competition, an Illinois laboratory. The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) would mean enormous economic benefits for Michigan and keep it at the forefront of nuclear science research. Michigan’s congressional delegation needs to be relentless in lobbying for FRIB and for a fair process. MSU is an internationally recognized leader in nuclear physics, focused intensely on this type of research. FRIB would be a mere extension of the work already being done at the university’s National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory. But its opponent, Argonne National Laboratory, managed by the University of Chicago, is a DOE laboratory. Couple that with the fact that educational value was excluded from the judging criteria, and that the committee making the decision is made up of all DOE officials, and it’s only natural to wonder if the right decision will get made....The exclusion of educational value from the criteria is not only disappointing but makes little sense — except if it’s an attempt to skew the outcome. There are numerous advantages to locating this facility on a major university campus. MSU already has one of the top nuclear physics graduate programs in the nation. Besides attracting more of the leading scientists from around the world, the facility could lure more students to this cutting-edge research.
(The Grand Rapids Press editorial, October 9, 2008)
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FORMER CORNELL PRESIDENT: TIME TO MAKE NEW YORK GREAT AT UNIVERSITY LEVEL

New York State has for too long placed almost all its bets on one industry — the financial sector. That industry has been remarkably successful, but it has meteoric ups and downs, and the state budget goes up and down with it, to the long-term detriment of education and the good of its citizens. It is time for state leaders to take a long-term view of New York’s future, and to recognize, as Michigan and California and North Carolina and Georgia have done, that higher education, particularly top research universities, is the key to the intellectual and economic future in a knowledge economy.
(Former Cornell University President Hunter Rawlings in Newsday, September 28, 2008)
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RESEARCH CORRIDOR HAS MORE PATENTS, STUDENTS, LESS INVESTMENT

The University Research Corridor, made up of Michigan State University, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University, educated more students than other comparative research clusters around the country and moved up in the comparative number of patents issued. But it moved down in the relative amount of research investment, according to a report released Wednesday. The three schools also showed their role in the state’s economy is increasing. The report by Anderson Economic Group showed the three schools had $1.38 billion in research investment in 2006, up $10 million from 2005, but still dropping them to fifth among the six university corridors in the country. The other comparable clusters are in California, Illinois, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. But the schools moved up a spot to fourth in the number of patents issued for the year, the report said. And, at 135,816 students, the URC educated more than any of the other clusters. Overall, the schools generated 69,285 jobs and $13.3 billion in economic activity in 2006, the report said. “The knowledge economy is here, and competition in the realm of innovations and ideas will be every bit as global and as fierce as it is in manufacturing,” said MSU President Lou Anna Simon. “Michigan’s three internationally recognized research institutions are essential to creating the intellectual capital and the technology breakthroughs that will make our state competitive. The URC generates innovations, new technologies, and new businesses that not only provide jobs, but also improve life for all citizens of Michigan.” “Industry is turning to our universities more frequently to support the innovation and new discoveries that will fuel our future,” said UM President Mary Sue Coleman. “We expect this trend to continue.” Among other findings in the report, 7.2 percent of the state’s adult population graduated from one of the three schools. The three institutions also employed 48,760 full-time equivalent employees, making them together one of the state’s four largest employers
(Gongwer News Service, September 18, 2008)

Friedman Urges Massive Renewables Push

If Thomas Friedman were in charge of Michigan, “drill baby drill” and fighting for gas-guzzlers would go the way of the dinosaur. The bestselling author and New York Times columnist spoke Wednesday in Ypsilanti to an enthusiastic crowd of well over 1,000 at a meeting of the Washtenaw Economic Club. The session was sponsored by the University Research Corridor, the consortium of Michigan’s three major research universities, Michigan State University, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University. The event also featured a renewable energy business exhibition by several companies involved in the nascent industry. Asked after his prepared remarks by UM president Mary Sue Coleman what he would do if he was in charge of Michigan, he first said: “My mantra sure as heck wouldn’t be ‘drill baby drill.’ I’d put on the license plate of every Michigander, ‘invent baby invent.’ To say ‘drill baby drill’ on the eve of the energy technologies revolution is like demanding more IBM selectric typewriters on the eve of the IT revolution. Carbon paper baby, carbon paper.” He also said he’d do in Michigan what President George W. Bush did when he was governor of Texas — insist on heavy development of wind power. “I’d have the highest renewable power standard in the country,” he said. “I’d tell my utilities they had to be generating 30 percent of their power from renewable power by 2020 and 50 percent by 2050. They would all scream and moan, but all those innovators I’ve met here today would have a domestic market. Think it won’t work? Go visit Denmark,” where most power comes from wind, and where the unemployment rate is 1.6 percent because renewable energy is a major employer.
(The Great Lakes IT Report, September 18, 2008)
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IN YPSILANTI, NEW YORK TIMES COLUMNIST FRIEDMAN CALLS FOR ‘ENERGY REVOLUTION’

Alternative energy symposium included remarks from University President Mary Sue Coleman Speaking before a group of leading alternative energy company representatives at Eastern Michigan University yesterday, New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman called for an “energy technology revolution,” saying whichever country solves the energy crisis could reap huge economic benefits in the process. The event, organized by the Michigan Business Review, Washtenaw Economic Club and the state’s University Research Corridor also featured remarks from University President Mary Sue Coleman and Michigan State University President Lou Anna Simon.
(The Michigan Daily, September 18, 2008)
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THOMAS FRIEDMAN: MiCHIGAN NEEDS RPS STANDARD, TOUGHER FUEL REGULATIONS

Thomas Friedman, New York Times columnist and author of “The World Is Flat,” told a crowd at Eastern Michigan University’s Convocation Center today that innovations in energy technology can solve the world’s major problems. Friedman said Michigan needs to adopt a renewable portfolio standard — which would require that utilities derive a set percentage of their electricity from renewable sources — and said Congress needs to institute tougher fuel economy standards for automakers. Friedman called for a global “energy technology revolution” to address supply and demand of energy, the decline of natural resources, “petrodictatorship,” climate change, “energy poverty” and biodiversity loss. “They all have the same solution: abundant, cheap, clean, reliable electrons,” Friedman said. He added that the country’s slogan shouldn’t be “drill, baby, drill,” but “invent, baby, invent.” Friedman, whose appearance was sponsored by the Washtenaw Economic Club, was speaking at Michigan Business Review’s Innovation event — where Michigan alternative energy issues and companies were highlighted. Friedman last week released a new book called “Hot, Flat and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution — And How It Can Renew America.” Michigan, Friedman argued, needs to adopt a renewable portfolio standard, which would require that utility companies derive a set percentage of their electricity from renewable sources. The state Legislature and Gov. Jennifer Granholm are close to approving an RPS that would set that percentage at between 7 percent and 10 percent by 2015. But Friedman said Michigan should adopt the most aggressive RPS in the country, setting the rate at 30 percent by 2020 and 50 percent by 2040. He acknowledged that the utility companies would fight it, but said it’s necessary. “They will all scream and moan, but all the innovators I met here today, you will suddenly have a domestic market second to none in the country,” he said. Friedman’s arguments for an aggressive RPS came in response to a question from Mary Sue Coleman, president of the University of Michigan — who argued that Michigan’s research universities are positioned to drive energy technology advancements. (In conjunction with the Innovation event, Coleman and the University Research Corridor today announced the results of a study analyzing the economic impact of the URC, which consists of U-M, Michigan State University and Wayne State University.
(MLive, September 18, 2008)
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FRIEDMAN CALLS OUT AUTO INDUSTRY, SAYS MICHIGAN NEEDS RENEWABLE PORTFOLIO STANDARD

In case you haven’t had the chance to check out my liveblogging of Thomas Friedman’s speech today at Eastern Michigan University’s Convocation Center, you can read my summary of Friedman’s speech right here. Friedman called for an “energy technology revolution” to solve the world’s major problems. He also said Michigan’s automakers should be subjected to tougher fuel economy standards and said the state needs to adopt a renewable portfolio standard.
(MLive, September 18, 2008)
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IT’S GOOD NEWS WHEN WE NEED IT

The seeds to a brighter future are being planted and bearing fruit at the three research universities. It’s known as the University Research Corridor.... It’s good news when we need it.
(Guy Gordon, WDIV-TV, September 17, 2008)

STATE’S UNIVERSITIES DRIVE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

One of every $50 earned in the state of Michigan can be attributed to the economic impact of the state’s three research universities, according to a new report. “The economic impact of them is growing even at a time when the wages in the state are declining and the state budget support is declining,” said Patrick Anderson, CEO of East Lansing-based Anderson Economic Group, which conducted the study. The University Research Corridor — which consists of the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University — registered a net economic impact of $13.3 billion in 2007, up 3.5 percent from 2006, the report concluded.
(MLive, September 17, 2008)
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MICH. UNIVERSITIES LEADERS IN ALTERNATIVE ENERGY RESEARCH

The state’s three largest universities brought in nearly $80 million in alternative energy research and development dollars in 2007 and are well-positioned to be leaders in “green energy,” according to the second annual University Research Corridor report released today. The annual report card of the University Research Corridor institutions — University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University — highlighted for the first time their alternative energy initiatives, ranging from U-M’s Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute to MSU’s Great Lakes Bio-energy Research Center. “The energy issue is a global issue and it’s skyrocketing in importance,” Wayne State President Jay Noren said in a statement. “To bring these three institutions together to address this question of alternative energy has value that goes far beyond Michigan.”
(The Detroit News, September 17, 2008)
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ENROLLMENT, FUNDING ON RISE FOR RESEARCH CORRIDOR

Economic impact, enrollment and research funding all have increased among three major Michigan universities, according to a report released today by the University Research Corridor, or URC. The URC is a collaborative effort among MSU, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University that aims to stimulate Michigan’s economy, according to its Web site. The universities of the URC had more than a $13 billion economic impact on Michigan, according to the 2008 report. This is an increase of more than $450 million from 2007. The report defines economic impact as additional earnings that the operation of the universities gives to Michigan residents. The money comes from expenditures on items such as supplies and equipment and spending by employees, students and alumni of URC universities.“You’ve heard so many things about bad economic news,” MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon said in a conference call. “The URC is what’s right with Michigan.”
(The State News, September 17, 2008)
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STUDY TRACKS IMAPCT OF 3 MICHIGAN UNIVERSITIES

The University of Michigan and two other state universities have a big impact on Michigan: It amounts to more than $13.3 billion annually and 69,000-plus jobs, according to an Anderson Economic Group report commissioned by the universities. The report concluded that U-M, Michigan State University and Wayne State University — which together are known as the University Research Corridor — make up the largest research cluster in the United States by enrollment. In 2007, the universities had a combined 135,816 students.
(Ann Arbor News, September 17, 2008)
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MSU, U-M, WAYNE IMPACT: $13.3B

The state’s three big research universities generated $13.3 billion in economic impact for the state in 2007, according to a report to be released today. The three schools — Michigan State University, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University — were responsible for 69,285 jobs, both in direct employment and the ripple effect of their activities. They spent $6.7 billion on operations, $200 million more than the previous year, and $1.38 billion on research and development, a $10 million increase. They educated 135,816 students. The report, commissioned from the Anderson Economic Group in East Lansing, was the second annual study of the economic impact of the University Research Corridor, a collaboration between the three universities. And the presidents of the three schools held it up as evidence of their institutions’ vital role in the state’s current economy and in efforts to create a more vital economy down the road. “You’ve heard so much bad economic news, including the things that are in the paper today, the real estate market, the unemployment rate, the constriction of major industry,” MSU President Lou Anna Simon said Tuesday. “URC is what’s right with Michigan now.” This year’s report focused, in part, on the URC’s research on alternative energy, noting the three schools received $79.5 million in grants for such work last year....She added that she expects the universities’ involvement in such work to grow, due to increased interest from faculty, industry, federal funding agencies and from students. The report, which compares the Michigan schools to clusters of top universities around the country, also is meant to send “messages to the external world,” she said. “We want the rest of the country to know that Michigan is a powerhouse, that we have these universities that are very successful in carrying out research and garnering attention nationally.” According to Jerry Szatan, a Chicago management consultant who specializes in site selection for businesses, it’s a strategy that might yield dividends. North Carolina’s Research Triangle or Silicon Valley have more in the way of name recognition, he said, and “There certainly are advantages to having a brand like that.” “But there are all sorts of niches in research and manufacturing disciplines that will respond, not just to a generic brand name, but to the specific activities that are going on. “Given the lean funding for the state’s universities in recent years, another obvious audience for the report is the Legislature. Though university leaders have argued the case for their economic utility many times, Dennis Cawthorne, a lobbyist with the Lansing firm Kelley Cawthorne, who has done work for the American Association of University Professors, said it’s worth making that case again.
(Lansing State Journal, September 17, 2008)
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MICH. UNIVERSITIES BOOST ALT. ENERGY RESEARCH

Michigan’s three main research universities were granted more than $79.5 million for alternative energy research and development in 2007, according to a study to be released Wednesday. That amount is expected to increase as the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University assist efforts to find cleaner and renewable energy sources in the wake of rising oil prices. The three universities paid for the annual study by East Lansing-based Anderson Economic Group to highlight their economic impact. The schools have a partnership called the University Research Corridor.
(The Associated Press, September 17, 2008) Read the full article »

IN LATEST REPORT, UNIVERSITY RESEARCH CORRIDOR HIGHLIGHTS ALTERNATIVE ENERGY DEVELOPMENT

The University Research Corridor released its second annual report today, highlighting the latest progress on collaborative efforts between the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University to revitalize Michigan’s ailing economy. Formed in 2006, to help the three Michigan research universities combine resources and compete with other top research institutions, the URC has generated about $13.3 billion of the state’s economy in the past year. That money includes the form of earnings for alumni and students from the three URC schools and earnings for the corridor’s faculty and staff. That $13.3 billion was an increase of $453.5 million from last year. When compared to other research collaborations, the URC fell in the rankings for Research and Development expenditures, dropping from fourth to fifth. But, it rose in the ranks for both patent grants and technology licenses, going from fifth to fourth and sixth to fifth respectively.
(The Michigan Daily, September 17, 2008)
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Financial implosion brings even more challenges to Michigan

Can the financial picture get any worse in Michigan? We’ll find out by 4 p.m. when the New York Stock Exchange closes. Or we may find out when we wake up on Tuesday after the international markets get to weigh in on today’s institutional meltdown on Wall Street. That won’t be pretty and it won’t help our economic rebalancing. But even though I remain shellshocked over today’s news and bitter over what led up to it, I’m still up for the challenge: Michigan cannot retreat, no matter how the stock market reacts... This state is as close to finding its direction as I’ve seen it in recent years. Examples from this coming week: The University Research Corridor will release its latest report on research spending in Michigan on Sept. 17, and that remains a growth area. Michigan Business Review will report on the state’s alternative energy investment and policy in the Sept. 18 edition. And West Michigan will convene for its first-ever policy conference as that region grows its voice and cohesion. No balance sheet will emerge that shows all of that offsetting plummeting vehicles sales this month — presuming that happens — or tumbling market caps. Yet everyone in Michigan will do well to remember that, while we’re watching the nation hurtle toward more financial upheaval, we’ve been there. We’re in the midst of it. And we’ve sharpened our game as we try to ride it out.
(Paula Gardner, Michigan Business Review, September 15, 2008)
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Financial implosion brings even more challenges to Michigan

Can the financial picture get any worse in Michigan? We’ll find out by 4 p.m. when the New York Stock Exchange closes. Or we may find out when we wake up on Tuesday after the international markets get to weigh in on today’s institutional meltdown on Wall Street. That won’t be pretty and it won’t help our economic rebalancing. But even though I remain shellshocked over today’s news and bitter over what led up to it, I’m still up for the challenge: Michigan cannot retreat, no matter how the stock market reacts... This state is as close to finding its direction as I’ve seen it in recent years. Examples from this coming week: The University Research Corridor will release its latest report on research spending in Michigan on September 17, and that remains a growth area. Michigan Business Review will report on the state’s alternative energy investment and policy in the September 18 edition. And West Michigan will convene for its first-ever policy conference as that region grows its voice and cohesion. No balance sheet will emerge that shows all of that offsetting plummeting vehicles sales this month — presuming that happens — or tumbling market caps. Yet everyone in Michigan will do well to remember that, while we’re watching the nation hurtle toward more financial upheaval, we’ve been there. We’re in the midst of it. And we’ve sharpened our game as we try to ride it out.
(Paula Gardner, Michigan Business Review, September 15, 2008)
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MICHIGAN’S URC HAS “A UNIQUE ROLE”

“The University Research Corridor just represents that these three universities have a different role. They bring a certain amount of distinction and they also attract a significant amount of research funding and contracts that can help this state attract other business. So they have a unique role.”
(Eastern Michigan University President Susan Martin in an interview with MIRS News Service, September 12, 2008)

UNIVERSITIES KEY PART OF THE SOLUTION

We need many more people, companies, and universities trying many more things and a market that will quickly scale the most promising new ideas. This second kind of innovation — breakthrough innovation — is always hard to predict, and the case of energy will be no different. “You are not going to see it coming,” Bill Gates said to me in an interview. “The breakthrough will probably come out of somewhere you least expect, and we’ll only know how it happened looking backward.”
(Thomas Friedman in Hot, Flat and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution and How it Can Renew America, page 188)

INVESTING IN MASSIVE RESEARCH ‘PLAYS TO OUR STRENGTHS’ AS A NATION

On top of all that, mounting a real revolution — going Code Green — is a “quintessentially American opportunity,” added Lois Quam. It plays to all our strengths. It requires enormous amounts of experimentation — the kind you find in our great research universities and national laboratories; it requires lots of start-up companies that are not afraid to try, risk, fail, and try again, and plenty of venture capitalists ready to make big bets for big returns; it requires lots of teamwork and collaboration between business, government, and academe; it requires thousands of people working in their garages, trying thousands of things. And, most important, it is one of those national projects that is about big profits and big purposes; not just about making America richer, but the world better.... Precisely because America’s capitalist system and research universities are, in combination, still the most powerful innovation engine ever created, the world cannot effectively address the big problems of the Energy-Climate Era — quickly and at scale — without America, its president, its government, its industry, its markets, and its people either leading the revolution or aspiring to do so.
(Thomas Friedman in Hot, Flat and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution and How it Can Renew America, page 174-175)

FEDERAL DOLLARS GOING INTO ENERGY RESEARCH COMPARED TO HEALTH RESEARCH

If you add all the federal dollars going into energy research together — and that would include research on oil, gas, and coal as well as solar... it would total around $3 billion in government money and about $4 billion in private sector and venture funds, “which is about nine days of fighting in Iraq.” Energy is a $1 trillion-a-year industry and that means reinvesting about $8 billion in R&D constitutes 0.8 percent of revenues... Compare this with healthcare... The national health budget went through a planned expansion that from 1982 to 1990 essentially doubled the budget of the National Institutes of Health. The NIH budget has stayed high ever since — so it is possible — and there wasn’t even a specific health care crisis...When the federal budget in that area increased, the private sector went up by a factor of 14 to 15....
(Thomas Friedman in Hot, Flat and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution and How it Can Renew America, page 385)

PRESIDENT NOREN OUTLINES GOALS FOR WSU, DETROIT IN WELCOME BACK WEEK ADDRESS

President Dr. Jay Noren said Monday that “access to higher education, response solutions to urban stresses, citizenship and economic revitalization” were “critically important” problems for Wayne State to address as part of its responsibility to the people of the Detroit and beyond....Noren said that all of these responsibilities ultimately pointed to the most important one, economic revitalization. He said that Wayne State’s innovation in the areas of technology will allow Michigan to restore its economic health. “It’s been said that Michigan could not open for business without Wayne State,” he said. The work of the University Research Corridor and TechTown, and creation of the South University Village will revitalize Detroit, he said. “That potential is still there,” he said. “These are realistic goals that can be achieved.” He said, “I firmly believe that Wayne State is in the right place, at the right time, and with the right people to dramatically enhance the quality of life and the vitality of the citizens of the community and the institutions we serve. What could be a better way to spend our days, and what could be more fun?”
(The South End, September 10, 2008)

BILL GATES: “OUR UNIVERSITY SYSTEM IS THE BEST”

Underneath this umbrella of flexibility, America has a myriad of institutional strengths. It starts with a network of research universities, which spin off a steady stream of competitive experiments, innovations, and scientific breakthroughs — from mathematics to biology to physics, to chemistry. “Our university system is the best,” said Bill Gates. “We fund our universities to do a lot of research and this is an amazing thing. High-IQ people come here, and we allow them to innovate and turn (their innovations) into products. We reward risk taking. Our university system is competitive and experimental. They can try out different approaches. There are 100 universities making contributions to robotics. And each one is saying that the other is doing it all wrong, or my piece actually fits together with theirs. It is a chaotic system, but it is a great engine of innovation in the world, and with federal tax money, with some philanthropy on top of that, (it will continue to flourish). .. We will really have to screw things up for our absolute wealth not to increase. If we are smart, we can increase it faster by embracing this stuff.”
(Thomas Friedman, The World is Flat, Release 3.0, pages 330-331)

STUDENTS PLUG INTO VOLT PROJECT: MASTER’S PROGRAM WORKS ON BATTERY

Twenty-two-year-old Ann Arbor native Merry Walker expected to be on the fast track out of Michigan after she earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan last year. Then Ann Marie Sastry got to her. Sastry, a smart, feisty and convincing engineering professor, was starting a master’s program in energy systems engineering and wanted Walker and other bright young battery engineers to sign on. It wouldn’t be just any old master’s program, she said — she was working with General Motors Corp. to provide the best and brightest young graduate students with an opportunity to break down hurdles in the way of launching electric vehicles. Before she knew it, Walker was in. By the summer, she and nine other students from the new master’s battery program were working on GM’s Chevrolet Volt electric car. It’s the kind of work that Sastry and GM executive director of global vehicle engineering Bob Kruse say could help the state keep its best and brightest students, provide a feeder program for battery engineers GM needs and make Michigan the global leader for battery and other advanced-propulsion work.
(Detroit Free Press, August 15, 2008)
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MSU PLANT PROTEIN DISCOVERY MAY MEAN BETTER BIOFUELS

Scientists at Michigan State University have identified a new protein necessary for chloroplast development. The discovery could ultimately lead to plant varieties tailored specifically for biofuel production. Chloroplasts, which are specialized compartments in plant cells, convert sunlight, carbon dioxide and water into sugars and oxygen — “fuel” for the plant — during photosynthesis. ... A newly discovered protein offers insight into how the process works. “Nobody knew how this mechanism worked before we described this protein,” says Christoph Benning, MSU professor of biochemistry and molecular biology. “This protein directly affects photosynthesis and how plants create biomass (stems, leaves and stalks) and oils.”
(Great Lakes IT Report, August 14, 2008)
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MSU TO CREATE GENOMIC CLEARINGHOUSE FOR CELLULOSIC ETHANOL ENERGY CROPS

Michigan State University scientists, supported with a $540,000 Federal grant, are creating a Web-based genomic database of information on energy crops that can be used to make cellulosic ethanol. ... C. Robin Buell, associate professor of plant biology and project leader and Kevin Childs, a postdoctoral researcher in her lab, will use the joint grant from the U.S. departments of Agriculture and Energy to centralize the genomic databases, create uniform annotations (notes or descriptions of the genomes), provide data-mining and search tools, and provide a Web site for scientists from around the world to access the databases.
(Green Car Congress, Automotive World, August 14, 2008)
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HAIL, HAIL TO HELP FOR STATE’S ECONOMY

In 1966, the University of Michigan connected its computer network to Michigan State and Wayne State universities, to form the Merit Network. It was later re-engineered by the U.S. National Science Foundation and formed the basis of the Internet. The electrocardiogram was developed on U of M’s campus. A survey of consumer spending and saving decisions published by the school is the basis for the U.S. Department of Commerce’s index of leading indicators. Clearly, resources of the U of M, one of the nation’s top research institutions, can have an enormous, positive impact on society. The announcement last month that the university will open its doors to businesses in an effort to transform the Michigan economy is certainly welcome. The university’s new Business Engagement Center, one of only three in the country, offers one-stop shopping for faculty consulting, laboratory equipment, research and professional development classes, as Michigan moves from a manufacturing-oriented economy toward a knowledge-based one. The pity is that the university has not moved faster.
(South Bend, Indiana Tribune editorial, August 4, 2008)
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TAKING RESPONSIBILITY

Efforts to market West Michigan as a whole and have communities work cooperatively are making progress. Economic developer Ron Kitchens, the chief executive officer of Southwest Michigan First, is the best thing to happen to economic development in Kalamazoo in the past 10 years. The state should throw its funding for higher education behind kindergarten-through-grade 12 education and provide each K-12 graduate a voucher for at least two years at a Michigan college or university. And former Kellogg Co. CEO Carlos Gutierrez should run for governor. Those are a few of the views of Jim Hettinger, who has helped shepherd business development in Battle Creek to remarkable success in the past 30 years despite company closings, an early-1980s unemployment rate there of 17.9 percent and a raft of other challenges. Known as a straight shooter who can be blunt and unafraid to say what he thinks, the recognized dean of West Michigan economic development is entering his final months as chief executive of Battle Creek Unlimited, the Cereal City’s lead economic-development organization.
(The Kalamazoo Gazette, August 3, 2003).
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ADVANCED PHOTONIX CREATES 25 JOBS IN ANN ARBOR, PLANS FOR 100 MORE

Advanced Photonix and its University of Michigan spin-off subsidiary Picometrix (circa 1992) employ 170 people. About half of those people are based out of Ann Arbor. In the last 18 months the company has created 25 new jobs in Ann Arbor and plans to hire another 100 people in the next 3 to 5 years. “All of our technology development comes out of Ann Arbor,” says Rob Risser, CFO of Advanced Photonix and the president and GM of Picometrix. The tech firm specializes in making optimum electronic semiconductor sensors. These sensors are used by a wide variety of fields, ranging from homeland security’s search for WMDs to eye scanners for the healthcare industry. Meanwhile, Picometrix focuses on making sensors for the telecommunications industry, one of the firm’s most promising new sectors. These sensors are on the high-end of the technology pyramid, making them more expensive and more profitable. The firm’s revenue has grown about 25 to 30 percent this year alone and is aiming for $30 million in revenue.
(Concentratemedia.com, July 30, 2008)

TECH GROUPS TO COLLABORATE: TECHTOWN, AUTOMATION ALLEY TO SHARE SPACE

Detroit-based TechTown and Troy-based Automation Alley are expected to announce an agreement this week that formalizes a working relationship between the two organizations. The Wayne State University-affiliated technology incubator will set aside dedicated space that Alley members can rent, will offer free office space to be staffed by an Automation Alley employee and will provide space as needed for Automation Alley to hold meetings and special events. TechTown director Randal Charlton said that tenant space in the incubator for Alley members will expand as needed, but he expects to have a handful of them clustered together in at least 5,000 square feet of space within a year....“It’s critical to realize we either swim together or sink separately,” said Charlton. “Over the last year or so, Detroit Renaissance Inc. has been urging collaboration by the various economic-development agencies. We’ve recognized that you don’t build a business incubator the size of TechTown without involving all the available talent. If you’re building a mall, you want the biggest and best brand names you can get. Automation Alley is a brand name here and beyond. They’re incredibly well-connected in Washington, and they’ve done a lot of business development trips abroad,” he said....Charlton said he will try to reach similar agreements with other economic development groups in Southeast Michigan, including Ann Arbor Spark, “to come here and set up shop, too. We’ll provide a platform for that — and this is the first step.”
(Crain’s Detroit Business, July 28, 2008)
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SURVEY OF TECH-SECTOR EXECS FINDS MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT REGION

Southeast Michigan tech firm executives think the region wouldn’t be such a bad place to do business and grow — if they could only get noticed. The first Michigan Technology Climate Survey of 2008, conducted by the University of Michigan-Dearborn Center for Innovation Research for the Detroit Regional Chamber, found 54 percent of respondents feel Southeast Michigan has a strong offering of skilled technology workers and 44 percent think the labor force meets all or most of its human-resources needs... Some 59 percent of executives felt the state does not generally “promote” economic growth... And while 64 percent strongly agreed the auto industry plays an important role in Michigan’s future, 85 percent believe it is a priority for Michigan to shift away from manufacturing to a knowledge-based economy.
(Crain’s Detroit Business, July 28, 2008)
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MICHIGAN MOVES UP IN VC RANKINGS

Buoyed by a $19.2 million investment in Ann Arbor-based HandyLab Inc., which makes a device that analyzes DNA for infectious diseases, Michigan moved up the national rankings for venture-capital investing in the second quarter, according to the quarterly MoneyTree report issued by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Washington-based National Venture Capital Association based on data from Thomson Reuters. Eight Michigan companies received a total of $51.4 million in the quarter, ranking the state 19th. It ranked 24th in the first quarter with $24.9 million.
(Crain’s Detroit Business, July 28, 2008)
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COULD LIFE SCIENCES BECOMES MICHIGAN’S CORE INDUSTRY?

“With the precipitous decline of the region’s manufacturing industry, many are looking to health care, and the fledgling life sciences industry, as a new economy. And in some respects the two are inter-related. While the health industry is a major employer in the communities where hospitals are based, they generally only serve people in this region. Whereas, life sciences companies market worldwide...There clearly is opportunity for growth,” says Steven Rapundalo PhD, executive director of MichBio, the professional association representing the Michigan life sciences industry. The state has more than 500 life sciences companies, most of them in Southeast Michigan, and most with fewer than 100 employees. The state’s health care industry, specifically its academic systems, has helped spawn innovation through instrument and technique development, Rapundalo says... The departure of Pfizer from Ann Arbor resulted in somewhere between 24 and 27 start-up companies, which reflects a growing culture of entrepreneurial scientists, according to Rapundalo...While Rapudalo believes there’s a critical mass of life science professionals in the region, the state isn’t perceived as a life sciences leader. That’s partly because of inconsistent state funding and a lack of visibility, he says. “I don’t know why it shouldn’t be” a thriving entrepreneurial environment, especially with the proximities to universities and related talent, says Neagle.
(Metromode, July 24, 2008)
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STUDY: MICHIGAN’S YOUNG ADULT POPULATION GROWING FASTER THAN U.S. AVERAGE

New analysis of U.S. Census Data by Michigan State University’s Land Policy Institute shows the state is actually hanging on to or bringing in people Wilke’s age. (It doesn’t distinguish those who move in versus those who simply stay in their home states.) The study shows that while the state population grew by a meager 1.8 percent between 2000 and 2006, it was a different story among 25- to 34-year-olds. Michigan saw 7.6 percent growth in that age group. It’s actually a higher rate than the U.S. as a whole. The state’s growth wasn’t enough to top Utah with its 29 percent growth. But it leaves Michigan leaps and bounds ahead of North Dakota, which saw a drop of nearly 23 percent among 25-to-34-year-olds. Connecticut saw a near 5 percent loss in that age group. The data lines up with a presentation given by the state demographer earlier this year. Kenneth Darga said Michigan does see a lot of young people move out, but it also sees a number of young people move in... The 2000-2006 growth in young adults wasn’t enough to overcome the loss in that group from 1990 to 2000 but if current trends continue, the state’s economy stands to benefit. The state demographer’s report looks specifically at gain and loss among college educated young adults. The news there is mixed: no long-standing pattern of loss but a two-year troubling pattern.
(WOOD-TV, July 26, 2008)
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CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE: AMERICA’S HEARTLAND IN THE AGE OF GLOBALISM

The Midwest is not only rich, it’s smart. As we’ve seen, it is home to the greatest concentration of brainpower in the world: it has the huge research universities in the Big Ten, plus other titans like the University of Chicago and Washington University, and research labs like Argonne and Fermi. It has medical centers like Mayo and the Cleveland Clinic, topflight liberal arts colleges like Grinnell, Oberlin, Carleton, Lawrence and Knox, plus urban universities like Drake, Butler, Macalester, Wayne State, Creighton, and the University of Illinois at Chicago, plus a rosary of first-rate Catholic universities such as Notre Dame, DePaul, and Marquette. These schools could be the kindling for an intellectual fire that could light the region... In building a Midwestern future, cooperation on biosciences and on the investment to finance it is a good way to state. In fact, some tentative starts already exist
(Richard C. Longworth, in the book Caught in the Middle: America’s Heartland in the Age of Globalism, 2008).

A BIG PARTY WITHOUT THE GUEST OF HONOR

Now the city, home to the University of Michigan-Flint, Kettering University, Baker College of Flint and Mott Community College, is trying to reinvent itself as a hub of higher education. The area has already switched to a service-based economy from one based on manufacturing, said Mark J. Perry, a professor of economics at the University of Michigan-Flint, with a higher percentage of service jobs and a lower percentage of manufacturing jobs than the country as a whole.
(The New York Times, July 18, 2008)
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COLLEGES STEP UP TO AID MICH. ECONOMY: 15 SCHOOLS TO BACK 200 FIRMS

In what could be a key boost to Michigan’s economy, the state’s 15 public universities plan to announce today a new effort to create 200 start-up companies over the next decade. The Michigan Initiative for Innovation & Entrepreneurship aims to award $75 million in entrepreneurship grants over the next seven years. The money will help speed the development of new ventures created at the schools as well as support entrepreneurial education and internship programs....The initiative, which was led by top administrators at the University of Michigan, reflects the bigger role that the state’s public universities hope to play in reviving Michigan’s ailing economy.With the auto industry employing fewer people, Michiganders’ interest in starting businesses has soared. Universities have discovered they can help contribute to this entrepreneurial environment by working more cooperatively with local companies and transferring more of their technology to the real world.
(Detroit Free Press, July 16, 2008)
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‘EDUCATION’ AND ‘ABORTION’ ARE HOT SEARCH TERMS AT POLITICAL WEB SITES

“Education” ranks among the top five issue-related search terms that have led Internet users to the campaign Web sites of John McCain and Barack Obama in the second quarter of 2008, according to Hitwise, a New York-based company.
(The Chronicle of Higher Education, Wired Campus, July 9, 2008)

MIDWEST NEEDS BIGGER SHARE OF R&D DOLLARS

Midwestern states aren’t getting their rightful share of federal research and development dollars, according to a new analysis by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The $8.1 billion in federal R&D outlays to Midwestern Big Ten university states “is significant,” said a report released June 27, but “it is less than what one might expect based on the region’s population and economic strength.” Adjust for inflation, and federal R&D grants to the region in 2005 were smaller than at any time since 1970. That diminished investment hurts. It may be holding back a regional economy that has lagged much of the rest of the country in this decade, and that looks to technological innovation to secure its future. Midwestern states are in the political spotlight this year. That gives their voters standing to ask candidates for president and Congress what they will do to boost R&D spending in their region.
(Minneapolis Star-Tribune editorial, July 7, 2008)
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RX FOR AILING MIDWEST: COOPERATION

“We’re all in this together, but you’d never know it” from the behavior of this and other Midwestern states, charged conference presenter Richard Longworth. He’s the author of a provocative new book, “Caught in the Middle: America’s Heartland in the Age of Globalism,” and an advocate for more interstate cooperation in response to global competition. Longworth makes a point that was obvious in a room full of state economic development officers and higher-education leaders: There’s a lot of duplicated effort to secure prosperity in Midwestern states. That should mean a lot of opportunity for collaboration, especially as a sour economy drives governments to pursue cost-saving measures. Trade initiatives seem a natural place to start. Midwestern governors could conduct joint overseas trade missions. Foreign trade offices could be consolidated. Strategies for attracting global investment could be harmonized. Higher education also appears rife with possibilities for synergy. Last week’s conference was convened by the 12 research universities — the 11 Big Ten schools plus the University of Chicago — that comprise the Committee on Institutional Cooperation. It has 50 years of experience convening the leaders of those institutions and sponsoring joint ventures. That’s a good foundation upon which to build combined academic and research programs, to better differentiate institutional missions and to create centers of excellence.
(Minneapolis Star-Tribune, July 6, 2008)
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JOHN DINGELL, CHAIRMAN OF THE U.S. HOUSE COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE ON MSU PROPOSAL

“The National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory is not only an important asset to MSU, but it is also a critical piece of the University Research Corridor,” Dingell said. He added that Michigan’s lawmakers and the Leadership Advisory Committee “are very much aware of the economic and academic benefit of having such a first-class facility located in our state and together we will work together to outline why MSU should be selected.”
(U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., July 1, 2008)
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LAB COULD ADD JOBS, MILLIONS TO STATE

Michigan could get a $1-billion bump to its economy over the next 10 years if a new U.S. Department of Energy lab is located at Michigan State University, according to an analysis to be released today. The project would generate about $187 million in taxes over 20 years and would mean a “home run” for the state, said Patrick Anderson, president of the East Lansing-based Anderson Economic Group. “We rarely get to even bat in this league,” Anderson’s seven-page memo to MSU notes.Michigan State is hoping to land the contract to build a Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, or FRIB, for the Energy Department. The device would provide intense beams of rare isotopes for researchers.
(Detroit Free Press, July 1, 2008)
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BIG TEN PROVOSTS COMMIT TO WORKING TOGETHER TO MAKE THE MIDWEST’S ECONOMY MORE COMPETITIVE

Twelve provosts from the Big Ten universities and the Midwest region say they will work together on efforts to make the Midwest’s economy more competitive and are calling on governors to join them in this effort. The provosts from the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), a consortium of the Big Ten universities plus the University of Chicago, signed a resolution to that end on Friday, June 27. The resolution came during an economic summit convened by the provosts at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. University leaders, leaders of regional banks, chief executive officers, government leaders, economists, researchers and professors participated in the summit in an effort to find ways to break down barriers that prevent them from effectively working together to build a vital Midwest economy...The region already possesses vitally important assets, including the Great Lakes, significant industrial and corporate entities, world-class research universities, dynamic cities and agricultural resources — all of which are central to a vibrant Midwest economy. The National Science Foundation (NSF) reports that the 12 CIC universities received over $3.1 billion in federal science and engineering support in FY2005. This represents 12.4 percent of the total federal science and engineering dollars — some $25.4 billion — awarded in the U.S. for that year. In addition, CIC universities have been awarded 18 percent of the total NSF science and engineering dollars, and nearly 16 percent of the total U.S. Department of Agriculture dollars.
(University of Minnesota, June 30, 2008)
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PLANS FOR $350 MILLION ETHANOL PLANT IN MICHIGAN ANNOUNCED

Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is expected to be the host of a $250 million plant that would turn wood chips into fuel. The facility could have more than 50 jobs when it hits full production in 2012. ... Michigan State University and Michigan Technological University will be allied with the project, which could help further the state’s alternative energy efforts.
(Businessweek, June 27, 2008)
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PAULA GARDNER: IT’S TIME TO PRIORITIZE ALTERNATIVE ENERGY IN MICHIGAN

This state’s leading universities have $1.37 billion in annual research budgets, but less than 6 percent funds alternative energy efforts, according to recent data released by University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman. That figure should grow, she told Michigan Business Review, particularly since oil hit $135 per barrel. That was in late May, and the price still hovers near that new record... It’s time to prioritize alternative energy. It’s also hard to look back and recognize all of the missed opportunities to do so over recent years. Today, we have the clarity. We’re also fortunate that researchers in Michigan saw the potential years ago and led the way with the developments that we’re now putting to use or waiting for commercialization. Over coming months, Michigan Business Review will be telling the story of alternative energy in Michigan. By the time the Innovation event takes place in September, our “Green Book” will define where we stand and where we need to be. It’s a story for our business and political leaders. It’s also a tale that each of us can feel personally.
(Oakland Business Review, June 26, 2008)
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FORD, U-M JOIN ON ALTERNATIVE TRANSPORT INFO NETWORK

The University of Michigan is collaborating with Ford Motor Co. on a program designed to lessen the world’s reliance on motor vehicles in urban environments...The program, which Ford is calling “Urban Mobility Networks,” aims to establish IT networks in major urban centers throughout the globe through which residents could access information about alternative transportation options....The idea is that urban residents could wake up in the morning and check their cell phones to see what transportation methods would be most efficient that day — whether it’s a personal vehicle, taxi, shared bicycle, bus or street car...The collaboration between Ford, U-M’s Sustainable Mobility and Accessibility Research and Transformation (SMART) program and other partners is critical to finding ways to revolutionize urban transportation, said Mary Sue Coleman, U-M president.
(Ann Arbor Business Review, June 19, 2008)
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WSU’s REID IS RAY OF HOPE FOR DETROIT

The school that Irvin Reid headed for nearly 11 years, sitting astride the poorest major city in America, shows how a state-supported institution can make a difference when it joins entrepreneurial principles, economic development savvy and strength in engineering, medicine and technology with some leadership, vision, public dough and private investment. “Much of what you get from me is some fact and a lot of hope,” he told me Thursday, taking a break from a fund-raising trip on the West Coast. “I’m an incurable optimist. There are a lot of new opportunities for Michigan that will be driven by the universities.” Reid, 67, calls it “community engagement.” When he officially leaves the presidency July 31 to his successor, Jay Noren, he’ll assume the university’s Eugene Applebaum chair in community engagement. It’ll be a sort of bully pulpit, smack in the middle of his renovated Park Shelton condo, that Reid could use to push Wayne State deeper into a city that needs it far more than the university needs the city.
(Daniel Howes, The Detroit News, June 13, 2008)
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IN OUR OPINION: TOP SCHOOLS CAN BOOST STATE WITH RESEARCH POWER
WSU, MSU, U-M TEAM UP TO BE A DRIVING FORCE ON ALTERNATIVE ENERGY FOR MICHIGAN

Ever heard of the URC? Didn’t think so, but certainly everyone in Michigan and much of the world beyond has heard of the state’s three largest universities, Michigan State, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University. Well, the URC is all three, working together in the University Research Corridor, creating through cooperation one of the big keys to Michigan’s economic future. The universities have always mattered, but their combined effort can matter far more — generating ideas that can become marketable products, drawing millions of research dollars, and attracting talent with the kind of limitless vision that Michigan so desperately needs This is not to minimize the substantial contributions the state’s other universities make to their communities and the economy. All the institutions are turning out the workforce that can change Michigan’s financial and cultural complexion. But the Big Three combined are a powerhouse to be regarded on par with the industrial mainstays that built Michigan.... “We think we are an asset that can be leveraged more,” said U-M President Mary Sue Coleman. That’s not just a plea for more money in an era of declining state support. It’s a call for inclusion in all of Michigan’s economic development strategies. Indeed, with these institutions around, why would the state consider investing in, seeding or offering incentives for any idea without bouncing it off the URC to see what role the schools can play? The university presidents are trying to topple the ivory towers of academia and get their good, smart people on the front lines of Michigan’s economic battle. They have the intellectual resources. They have a commitment that can be a model for the rest of Michigan to eschew turf battles in favor of working together for the common good. To whatever extent the political will can be mustered and the financial resources marshaled, this is an effort that the state as a whole must optimize and encourage.
(Detroit Free Press editorial, June 2, 2008)
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EXTENSION GOES NATIONAL — AND ONLINE

Since they were established in the mid-19th century, land-grant universities have served a central role in research, teaching and economic development in their home states, with a mission to support local agriculture, the life sciences and entrepreneurship. Beyond the classroom and out among the fields, much of the institutions’ outreach work falls on their cooperative extension programs — statewide networks of county offices that handle requests from residents, collect information and work with local communities to share the latest in university research.
(Inside Higher Education, June 9, 2009)
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FOCUS: INNOVATION
NEW U-M LAB TO DEVELOP BIG IDEAS FOR SMALL WORLD

The University of Michigan’s new Robert H. Lurie Nanofabrication Facility plans to bring a whole new world of small to the features on the microdevices and nanodevices its faculty, students and corporate customers hope to build. Examples include sensors that evaluate water and air quality or implantable devices that will operate with wireless signals to bring sound to the deaf and sight to the blind. The lab is a $60 million project, including some $20 million worth of equipment such as furnaces required to grow the silicon crystals that are at the heart of many sensors and electronic devices....It is adjacent to the school’s existing fabrication facility, which was known as the MichiganNanofabrication Facility and Solid State Electronics Laboratory. Companies use the UM facilities to build prototype devices for optics, telecommunications, medical devices, water- and air-quality analysis and homeland security...In 2007, the existing lab was used by 22 for-profit companies, which were charged an hourly rate of $77 with a monthly cap of $7,700 each....The electronics lab has helped spin off more than a dozen companies that have received more than $100 million in venture capital. One spin-off, Ann Arbor-based Sensicore Inc., which had received $28.6 million in venture capital, was sold in March to a division of General Electric...Collaboration isn’t just a nice outcome — it’s a requirement, said Wise. “You can’t afford to put this technology every place,” he said. “It is far too expensive.”
(Crain’s Detroit Business, May 26, 2008)
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U.S. EXPERTS BEMOAN NATION’S LOSS OF STATURE IN THE WORLD OF SCIENCE

Some of the nation’s leading scientists, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s top science adviser, today sharply criticized the diminished role of science in the United States and the shortage of federal funding for research, even as science becomes increasingly important to combating problems such as climate change and the global food shortage....Nina Fedoroff, a plant molecular biologist who is Rice’s science and technology adviser, said science in the United States “has really kind of died over a quarter of a century, even as the importance of science has grown.” Although the United States has long been the recognized global leader in science, Fedoroff said, that position is now being challenged by others, specifically China, which is raising its global profile. “They’re educating 10 times as many students as we are,” she said. “The next generation of scientists in other countries might not speak English.”
(Washington Post, May 29, 2008)
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THE NEXT AMERICAN FRONTIER

The entire world seems to be heading toward points of inflection. The developing world is embarking on the digital age. The developed world is entering the Internet era. And the United States, once again at the vanguard, is on the verge of becoming the world’s first Entrepreneurial Nation....In the course of the 20th century, Americans invented more milestone technologies and inventions, created more wealth and leisure time, and reorganized their institutions more times than any country had ever done before — despite a massive economic depression and two world wars. It all reached a crescendo in the magical year of 1969, with the creation of the Internet, the invention of the microprocessor and, most of all, a man walking on the moon....More than 200 million people now belong to just two social networks: MySpace and Facebook. And there are more than 80 million videos on YouTube, all put there by the same individual initiative. The most compelling statistic of all? Half of all new college graduates now believe that self-employment is more secure than a full-time job. Today, 80% of the colleges and universities in the U.S. now offer courses on entrepreneurship; 60% of Gen Y business owners consider themselves to be serial entrepreneurs, according to Inc. magazine. Tellingly, 18 to 24-year-olds are starting companies at a faster rate than 35 to 44-year-olds. And 70% of today’s high schoolers intend to start their own companies, according to a Gallup poll....Entrepreneurial America is likely to become even more innovative than it is today. And that innovation is likely to spread across society, not just as products and inventions, but new ways of living and new types of organizations....Being good entrepreneurs, it’s time to look ahead, develop a good plan, and then bet everything on ourselves.
(Michael Malone, author of The Protean Corporation in The Wall Street Journal, May 19, 2008)

WSU PICK EAGER TO HELP CITY
SOLUTIONS WOULD AID U.S., HE SAYS

Jay Noren, on the verge of being named Wayne State University’s 10th president, rounded out his workday Tuesday much the same way he began it — touting WSU as uniquely positioned to solve not only Detroit’s problems, but also those of the country. He nodded to Wayne State’s historical mission to provide access to higher education for metro Detroiters and the nontraditional student in a meeting Tuesday with students and staff. But he added that WSU’s partnership with Michigan State University and the University of Michigan is crucial to the institution’s future. “Not another three great universities can match the potential of the University Research Corridor,” he said.
(Detroit Free Press, May 14, 2008)
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INCREASED ACCESS, RETENTION TOP AGENDA FOR WAYNE STATE’S PRESIDENT DESIGNEE

Wayne State University’s finalist for the president’s post said Tuesday he plans to collaborate with the state’s other research universities and leverage their collective power to spur economic development in the area and increase access to college. Jay Noren, founding dean of the University of Nebraska’s Medical Center College of Public Health, also envisions the university serving as a national model for tackling problems like the need to improve retention for disadvantaged students.... Noren said Wayne State and the University of Michigan and Michigan State University, the other institutions in the University Research Corridor, “have a collection of power that exists nowhere else in the country” to confront the state’s challenging economy and hobbled workforce by expanding higher education opportunities. “This is the right time and the right place to set benchmarks for solving these problems nationally,” he said. “That’s very exciting.”
(Detroit News, May 13, 2008)
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STATE NEEDS LIFE SCIENCES — AND MORE

Alternative energy can play a critical role in helping us diversify the economy. Wind energy and battery technology, in particular, are two segments where Michigan can succeed. But life sciences, despite its profitability struggles, remains a strong point for Michigan, as well. The University Research Corridor isn’t lessening its commitment to life sciences, because it realizes the promises it holds. Michigan needs to do the same.
(Nathan Bomey, Ann Arbor Business Review, May 7, 2008)
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LANSING STATE JOURNAL EDITORIAL: HIGHER TUITION, ROOMING TABS ARE PRUDENT MOVES FOR SCHOOL

Students and parents who rely on Michigan State University face a more expensive future. The university is considering a 7 percent tuition increase this fall, on top of a 5.25 percent increase for room and board......For the coming school year, if all goes well for MSU and Gov. Jennifer Granholm gets her way on the state budget, MSU would see a state aid increase less than the rate of inflation. Some money is better than no increase or cuts, but no one could seriously claim these figures as evidence of state reinvestment. So, what’s a university to do? MSU President Lou Anna Simon and her team have chosen to invest, to defend the value of their product — while protecting student access. As tuition has gone up, so has university-based financial aid. It’s more expensive to attend MSU, but students have more help available from the school to do so. MSU also has to be mindful of its role in Michigan’s new economy. Universities are the hubs of knowledge economies, of research and the practical products that flow out of such work. The school would be remiss if, under political pressure over college costs, it diverted resources from its research and investment responsibilities. So, without a clear trend of greater state aid and without evidence that tuition increases have driven students from campus, MSU is taking the prudent course: Raise money to ensure the quality of its work.
(Lansing State Journal, May 6, 2008)
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THOMAS FRIEDMAN: WHO WILL TELL THE PEOPLE?

Harvard’s president, Drew Faust, just told a Senate hearing that cutbacks in government research funds were resulting in “downsized labs, layoffs of post docs, slipping morale and more conservative science that shies away from the big research questions.” Today, she added, “China, India, Singapore ... have adopted biomedical research and the building of biotechnology clusters as national goals. Suddenly, those who train in America have significant options elsewhere.” It is especially not trivial now, because millions of Americans are dying to be enlisted — enlisted to fix education, enlisted to research renewable energy, enlisted to repair our infrastructure, enlisted to help others. Look at the kids lining up to join Teach for America. They want our country to matter again. They want it to be about building wealth anddignity — big profits and big purposes. When we just do one, we are less than the sum of our parts. When we do both, said Shriver, “no one can touch us.”
(Thomas Friedman, The New York Times, May 4, 2008)
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JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED

The marriage of Grand Rapids and MSU’s medical school is a union that could spawn successes in many areas. The entire region should prepare itself to take full advantage of the economic, education and employment options the union creates.
(Grand Rapid Press editoriial, May 3, 2008).
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RENEWABLE ENERGY STANDARDS GAIN MOMENTUM IN MICHIGAN

Support is building among local alternative energy leaders for the approval of a renewable portfolio standard in Michigan — which would require electricity companies to ensure that a certain percentage of their energy comes from renewable sources. Several industry experts who spoke April 22 at a University Research Corridor conference in Detroit said approval of an RPS is critical to kicking off an alternative energy boom.
(Ann Arbor Business Review, April 29, 2008)
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UNIVERSITIES LEAD THE WAY ON HEALTHY-PLANET TECHNOLOGY

Universities lead way on healthy-planet technology Today, Earth Day, Wayne State University is joining WWJ News Radio 950, the University of Michigan and Michigan State University to highlight the work being done in our state to encourage the development of environmentally sound technology. This event — Carbon Culture at the Crossroads: Embracing a Green Michigan — combines a business forum, policy discussion, and daylong radio broadcast. In 2006, Wayne State, U-M and MSU formed the University Research Corridor, a partnership designed to help turn around Michigan’s bleak economy. The URC member institutions promote scientific discovery and create jobs by attracting billions of dollars in research funding to Michigan, developing new technologies, and nurturing emerging businesses. Each of these major research universities has significant initiatives in the environmental sciences and alternative energy research.
(Irvin Reid, April 22, 2008)
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USAUTOPARTS TO JUMP START FUEL-ECONOMY REQUEST

A surplus Delphi research lab in Macomb County’s Shelby Township has been donated to an initiative that could help automakers meet stringent new federal fuel economy guidelines. USAutoPARTs, expected to be up and running by June, will involve auto suppliers, state government, the U.S. Department of Energy and universities in clearing roadblocks on the path to energy efficiency. If successful, the initiative could help create thousands of Michigan jobs and bring millions in federal research dollars to the state... Brown told me there is room today for 100 researchers in the lab. The first half-dozen or so are likely to be on-site employees of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Oak Ridge is interviewing engineers for the lab. The U.S. Army’s National Automotive Center in Warren also is involved. Other researchers initially will be loaned to the lab by participating suppliers. USAutoPARTs also will provide a place for colleges and universities to educate students in new automotive technologies. Wayne State University has signed up to teach evening classes there.
(Rick Haglund, Booth Newspapers, April 30, 2008)
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Nanotechnology: SE Michigan’s Industrial Revolution

Local universities have placed a heavy emphasis on nanotech research and their faculties, most notably those at the University of Michigan, have started up a number of nanotech-based firms...For Dexter, location has been everything. “It’s been very important to be near the universities,” says Toth. “I’m not sure we would have found another academic partner had it not been for our proximity to the University of Michigan.” Of specific importance to local nanotechnology firms, notes Toth, is the Engineering Research Center for Wireless Integrated MicroSystems (WIMS), which was established in 2000 by the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Michigan Technological University. The Ann Arbor-based center, which is funded in part by the National Science Foundation, is merging micropower circuits, wireless interfaces, biomedical and environmental sensors and subsystems, and advanced packaging to create microsystems that will permeate virtually every aspect of society during the next 20 years.
(Metromode, April 24, 2008)
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AN UPSIDE IN STATE’S ECONOMY?

To those convinced nothing good can come from Michigan’s economic tailspin, that corporate retrenchment always gives talent a one-way ticket out of the state, I give you former Pfizer Inc. researcher Michael Wilson. The day after his 24-year career at the pharmaceutical giant ended last October, the potential casualty of Pfizer’s surprise move to close its Ann Arbor research labs started his new job as a researcher in the medicinal chemistry department of the University of Michigan’s College of Pharmacy. “It’s a change in the paradigm,” says Wilson, one of 13 Pfizer scientists recruited by the university in an effort to keep Pfizer talent from leaving the state and, secondly, to focus on drug discovery that could be commercialized in a spin-off or licensed to Big Pharma. “They’re starting to take the drug discovery paradigm away from the pharmaceutical companies and bring them into the universities,” he says. “We’ll have to see how it works out.” We won’t have to wait to understand this, however: The brains behind yet-to-be-discovered drugs are not the only new currency in Michigan’s burgeoning talent shift....As corporate heavyweights in Michigan, from Detroit’s automakers to drugmakers like Pfizer, restructure, reorganize and reduce headcount, savvy universities like Michigan, Michigan State and Wayne State are wooing mid-career professionals into mutually beneficial slots.... They are creations of the creative destruction roiling the Michigan economy, an upside that deserves more attention than it gets in a sea of gloom.
(Daniel Howes, The Detroit News, April 23, 2008)
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2 ANNOUNCEMENTS BOOST REGION AS LIFE-SCIENCES INVESTMENT DESTINATION

MPI Research Inc.’s major expansion in the Kalamazoo area, combined with Michigan State University beginning work on a new medical school campus in Grand Rapids, help to create mass that can make Michigan a larger destination for life-sciences investments. While certainly different in nature, the two projects will further the state’s slow economic transition and aid in the recruitment of talent and investments needed to develop biomedical and research in Michigan into larger economic sector.
(Business Review Western Michigan, April 22, 2008)
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UNIVERSITIES LEAD WAY ON HEALTHY-PLANET TECHNOLOGY

Today, Earth Day, Wayne State University is joining WWJ News Radio 950, the University of Michigan and Michigan State University to highlight the work being done in our state to encourage the development of environmentally sound technology. This event — Carbon Culture at the Crossroads: Embracing a Green Michigan — combines a business forum, policy discussion, and daylong radio broadcast. In 2006, Wayne State, U-M and MSU formed the University Research Corridor, a partnership designed to help turn around Michigan’s bleak economy. The URC member institutions promote scientific discovery and create jobs by attracting billions of dollars in research funding to Michigan, developing new technologies, and nurturing emerging businesses. Each of these major research universities has significant initiatives in the environmental sciences and alternative energy research....Sustainability must be much more than a philosophy or a trendy label: It also must be a way of life.
(Wayne State University President Irvin Reid, Detroit Free Press, April 22, 2008)
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TOYOTA INSTITUTE PLANS SEEN AS BIG COMMITMENT

Ann Arbor SPARK resident Michael Finney said he expects future employees recruited by Toyota to come from one of the schools allied in Michigan’s University Research Corridor, a cooperative effort among U-M, Michigan State University and Wayne State University. According to Spark, the three universities graduate between 160 and 180 Ph.D. students a year in mathematical and electrical, materials and mechanical engineering. “All three have outstanding Ph.D. programs and all have provided significant talent for automotive engineering companies and other engineering companies as well,” Finney said.
(The Ann Arbor News, April 3, 2008)
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INVESTMENT SEEN AS PROOF OF STATE’S AUTO PRESTIGE

In a move that underscores southeast Michigan’s importance and future as a global leader in automotive research, Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday that it has established a new institute near Ann Arbor that will spend $100 million on advanced research in the next four years. The investment will provide a research boon for the University of Michigan. Tuesday’s announcement comes in addition to a new, $187-million technical center in York Township that Toyota expects to move into by the end of the summer.... Robinet also said Toyota is smart for deciding to take advantage of U-M’s advanced research capabilities. In the future, Robinet said, more automotive innovation is likely to come from universities. Toyota said the institute is being led by Noboru Kikuchi, who is the Roger L. McCarthy professor of mechanical engineering at U-M and also a director of Toyota Central Research & Development Laboratories Inc. in Japan. U-M President Mary Sue Coleman credited Kikuchi’s longstanding relationship with Toyota for helping to cement Toyota’s research commitment. Coleman said U-M researchers are engaged in 29 research projects involving Toyota, a number she expects to grow. Toyota’s Brownlee said the new institute will study four aspects of “sustainable mobility”: advanced technologies, urban environments, energy and partnerships with government and academia.
(Detroit Free Press, April 2, 2008)
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CHOOSING PRISONS OVER COLLEGES

Michigan is one of only four states in the nation to spend more on prisons than higher education, according to a new report by the Pew Center for the States. We share the dubious distinction with Vermont, Oregon, and Connecticut. “Year by year, corrections budgets are consuming an ever-larger chunk of state general funds, leaving less and less in the pot for other needs,” the Pew researchers wrote, in a basic amplification of what many Michigan college student leaders, natural resources advocates, arts advocates, and local government leaders have shouted for years. Among those loud voices is former University of Michigan President James Duderstadt. In his new “Michigan Roadmap Redux,” Duderstadt cites no fewer than one dozen recent lengthy public policy reports outlining the urgent need to prepare the state’s present and future workforce for the competition of the global economy. Strong investment in higher education and decreased emphasis on prison spending are common to most, if not all, of those reports.
(The Center for Michigan, February 29, 2008)
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DISPUTED PLAN WOULD LET CONGRESS WEIGh IN ON STATE BUDGETS FOR COLLEGES

Some federal lawmakers are trying to press states to provide consistent spending increases to their higher-education systems, saying they recognize that the level of state aid colleges receive plays a critical role in how much institutions are able to rein in tuition increases and spend on improving their quality. The proposal would insert the federal government into state decisions about higher–education budgets, a new role that some colleges would welcome but that governors and state legislators call a dangerous precedent that might actually lead to less spending on higher education. The proposal, which was included in the version of legislation to renew the Higher Education Act that the U.S. House of Representatives passed this month.
(Chronicle of Higher Education, February 21, 2008)

U-M, MSU AND WSU TEAM ON $900K ENERGY PLAN

The state’s three largest research universities will invest $900,000 to encourage their faculty to work collaboratively on novel alternative energy research that could help shape energy policy. The presidents of Michigan State University, University of Michigan and Wayne State University formally announced the new energy initiative Tuesday as they jointly testified before a Senate committee on their growing importance to the economy and the need for the state’s investment in higher education. The research project is the latest collaboration between the three universities, which formed the University Research Corridor in November 2006 to spur economic development by leveraging their collective assets. By working together, the presidents say, they more effectively usher inventions from their labs to the marketplace and attract fresh jobs to the state.
(Detroit News, February 20, 2008)
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‘INNOVATION INDEX’ SHOWS UPTICK FOR MICHIGAN

Innovative economic activity in Michigan increased 2.8 percent from the middle of 2006 to the middle of 2007, according to a new “innovation index” developed by scholars at the University of Michigan-Dearborn School of Management. The UM-Dearborn researchers developed the index to track accelerations and decelerations in economic innovation in Michigan based on calculations of employment of “innovation workers,” trends in venture capital, trademark registrations, incorporation activity, small business loans and gross job creation. The “Innovation Index” is a new project of the school´s Center for Innovation Research or iLabs. The UM-Dearborn researchers are planning to release the index quarterly to make it more useful for economic policy makers.
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DANIEL HOWES: EDUCATION IS KEY TO ECONOMIC GROWTH

Manufacturing doesn’t drive per-capita income growth or job growth or exclusively define the middle class anymore; jobs requiring higher levels of education do. They account for 75 percent of the job growth nationwide, as well as higher wages and faster per-capita income growth. Even in lackluster Michigan, the education and health care sectors over the past five years created 47,000 jobs — 40,000 of them in Metro Detroit. “This is a) good news and b) the only way we get out of this mess is to grow quicker,” says Lou Glazer, president of Michigan Future. “Targeting a few high-tech industries is a strategy that’s unlikely to work.” ...“Quite simply, in a flattening world, the places with the greatest concentrations of talent win,” says the report, co-authored with Don Grimes at the University of Michigan. “Unless we substantially increase the proportion of college-educated adults — particularly in our biggest metropolitan areas — Michigan will continue to trend downwards in per capita income.”
(Daniel Howes, The Detroit News, February 11, 2008))
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RE-BRANDING MICHIGAN — WANTED: ENTREPRENEURS

Finney said he’s encouraged by the sense of urgency displayed by the state’s major research universities — U-M, Michigan State and Wayne State — which united in the University Research Corridor. A report by the Anderson Economic Group indicated that the URC had an economic impact of $12.8 billion in 2006. Presidents of the three universities have expressed a desire to become more involved in local business. U-M, for one, is starting a “business engagement center” aimed at facilitating communication and the sharing of ideas between the university and the business community. “We’re a very risk-averse state,” Forrest said. “And in my view the only solution to this problem ... is that the universities engage much more strongly with the business world.”
(Ann Arbor Business Review, February 7, 2008)

ENDOWMENTS: ON TUITION, GRANHOLM SHOULD BE TALKING TO LEGISLATURE

Gov. Jennifer Granholm has added her voice to the idea that the state’s flagship universities — Michigan State and Michigan — should use money from their endowments to ease tuition pressures on students.... But it´s also an ill-advised policy move, for MSU and U-M are about far more than undergraduate education. The endowments are a sign of strength, a reflection of their capability to pursue research that will strengthen the state economy. Michigan has 15 public universities, but only three are considered full research institutions – MSU, U-M and Wayne State. Such research schools are, in themselves, major economic engines. They create a culture of learning. They spin off business ventures and foster networks. They are doing the things Michigan needs to compete in the 21st century... Michigan wants these schools raising funds to support their research, their impact. Then there’s the whole question of need. Tuition has been rising steadily. Why? Well, part of the problem has been the policy of the state to reduce its share of the higher-education investment. In the 1972–73 school year, tuition and fees represented 25 percent of the funding for Michigan’s public colleges and universities; the rest came from state appropriations. Now, state appropriations are about 40 percent. It’s difficult to call out universities for raising tuition when the state´s own spending policies have fostered rising rates. And it is not like rising tuition has suddenly made MSU, for example, a ghost campus. For the 2007–08 year, MSU received 24,455 applications for enrollment – a 5 percent increase over the prior year. MSU’s enrollment this fall also rose, from 45,520 to 46,045... Granholm and the members of the Legislature need to have a good, long discussion with voters this year to clarify state funding policy for higher education. Calling on MSU to spend down endowments simply distracts from the real issue. If the state wants to support tuition breaks, it should step up and do it.
(Lansing State Journal editoral, February 4, 2008)
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TOM WALSH

"It’s incredible," said Blouse, president and CEO of the Detroit Regional Chamber, who returned Wednesday from a five–city, 11–day trip to scout business opportunities for Michigan companies to profit from India´s explosive growth. "There are many, many companies there that are flush with cash," he told me, "and they want to do business here in the States. They speak English. They’re from a democracy. They have similar ethical beliefs about the importance of intellectual property." Blouse said plans are afoot to set up an incubator for Indian entrepreneurs to grow companies in Detroit´s TechTown development near Wayne State University. A couple of Indian companies have already staked out turf in Michigan via acquisition: Bharat Forge bought Lansing-based Federal Forge out of bankruptcy in 2005 and has been expanding output of auto parts. Wipro Technologies purchased mechanical engineering and design firm Quantech Global Services LLC of Okemos in mid–2006 and plans to boost employment. India, of course, isn´t the only growth hotbed abroad. China’s economy has been surging at a 10‰ annual clip for 15 years. Russia is hot. Vietnam is on the rise.
(Detroit Free Press, February 3, 2008)
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GOV. JENNIFER GRANHOLM: 2008 STATE OF THE STATE ADDRESS

A renewable energy goal is a powerful tool to attract alternative energy jobs, but there are other tools, too. We are going to create Centers of Excellence across the state to bring alternative energy companies and Michigan universities together to create new products and new jobs....No one doubts that the best way to ensure that Michigan’s people will succeed in the face of global economic change is to ensure a quality education for every child and training for every worker. Our goal: double the number of college graduates to give Michigan the best-educated workforce in the nation. To reach that goal, we’ll make progress throughout our education system, from preschool to grad school to on-the-job training.....As much as we want our students to succeed in our K-12 schools, we also want them to succeed in college. Unfortunately, far too many of our students enter college but don’t graduate. The higher education budget I propose will take aim at that problem by rewarding colleges and universities when their students complete degrees. We’ll also reward them when they create opportunity for low-income students, and when they find ways to turn research ideas into businesses. We will invest more in higher education and we will expect more in return.
(Gov. Jennifer Granholm, State of the State address, January 29, 2008)
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SELLING MICHIGAN: R&D PUSHED AS REASON FOR CHINESE TO LOCATE IN STATE

Southeast Michigan economic-development organizations are racking up plenty of airline miles to China. Their mission: Develop and nurture relationships with Chinese manufacturers that could lead to more automotive research and development operations in Michigan. Five Chinese automotive companies are participating in the North American International Auto Show this year — four more than last year. That means potential opportunities for economic-development organizations to promote Michigan’s R&D brainpower and sell the state as a place to invest....Other Chinese executives are looking for management training or seek to recruit Michigan automotive engineers.... The increased Chinese presence has been an organizing rally for economic-development groups such as the Michigan Economic Development Corp., Ann Arbor Spark, the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Detroit Regional Economic Partnership and Wayne and Oakland county economic—development departments. The organizations are working apart and together with the goal of bringing Asian and Indian companies to Michigan. Meaningful progress, these economic leaders say, is made by understanding opportunities and working persistently.... By working together on pitches, organizations say they are using resources more effectively.

"We’ve taken a look at business opportunities in China and the Middle East. We have limited resources, so we tried to be opportunistic," said Michael Finney, CEO of Ann Arbor Spark, which is working with both the MEDC and Wayne County. Finney said the first priority is selling Michigan as a whole to Chinese businesses."If we get interest, we think they might want to locate research and development activity in the Ann Arbor area. "We’ve also had meaningful discussions with Wayne County and expect more of that to come," he said
(Crain’s Detroit Business, January 14, 2008)
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U.S. DOMINANCE IN SCIENCE AT RISK, REPORT SAYS

The United States remains the world leader in scientific and technological innovation, but its dominance is threatened by economic development elsewhere, particularly in Asia, the National Science Board said on Tuesday in its biennial report on science and engineering....The report, available at www.nsf.gov/statistics/indicators, recommends increased financing for basic research and greater “intellectual interchange” between researchers in academia and industry. The board also called for better efforts to track the globalization of manufacturing and services in the high-tech sector, and their implications for the American economy.
(New York Times, January 16, 2008)

WSU TO OPEN CHINESE CENTER JAN 31

Educators at Michigan State University and Wayne State University are teaming up with Chinese educators to teach students Mandarin and more about Chinese culture. It’s part of the China wave many believe will be vital to Michigan’s future. “We want to offer programs that help businesses and schools here in Michigan,” said Bob Thomas, dean of WSU’s College of Liberal Arts and Science, who is in charge of the university’s new Confucius Institute. “Being able to speak Chinese will only help our kids compete for jobs of the future,” added Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson, who has championed offering Mandarin in his county’s schools.Wayne State’s Confucius Institute recently won approval from the State of Michigan to offer a program to certify teachers of the Chinese language. The WSU Confucius Institute will hold its official grand opening Jan. 31. WSU is teaming with Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, China, to offer the program. It’s the second Confucius Institute in Michigan, one of 26 in the United States and one of more than 100 worldwide that have started in the past few years. The Confucius Institutes are joint ventures between a Chinese college and a school in another country and are subsidized in part by grants from the Chinese government
(Detroit Free Press, January 13, 2007)

MICHIGAN’S BRAIN DRAIN IS MYTH, DEMOGRAPHER SAYS: MORE COLLEGE GRADS MOVED TO STATE THAN LEFT IT

Michigan has neither a chronic loss of people or a brain drain of college graduates, the state demographer said Friday. The state experienced a net loss of 30,000 people from 2006 through 2007. But that’s not nearly as bad as the early 1980s, said demographer Ken Darga. He testified to state economists and lawmakers who met to determine the state’ revenues for this year and next. Darga said the media perpetuates myths about Michigan’s population. He said while many young people and college graduates leave the state, about the same typically migrate to Michigan as well. The same is true for other states, he said. “Every state has an out-migration of young people. Young adults move around a lot” Darga said. He said from 2000 to 2004, more people with college degrees moved into Michigan than left.
(Detroit Free Press, January 11, 2008)
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TECHNICAL SKILLS ARE VITAL TO STATE’S FUTURE

Two new studies underscore the importance of education — particularly technical education — for Michigan residents looking for more financial security. One of the studies also indicates that jobs are going begging for lack of skills on the part of applicants.... More than two-thirds of those firms surveyed indicated that they had had trouble finding workers who met their requirements in the past year. The survey was taken by the polling firm EPIC-MRA. Ed Sarpolus, vice president of the firm, says employers were looking for math and science skills, but also communications ability. The survey noted that as many as 30,940 jobs in the small to mid-size business sector could go unfilled. Another study, done for Automation Alley, a business and government group in southeast Michigan with a focus on supporting and growing the region’s technology industry, noted that salaries for skilled workers grew even though the number of jobs in the region shrank as a result of the state’s economic slowdown....The study added that the universities in the region for three years running spent more than $1 billion annually for research and development, an increase of more than 50 percent over such spending 10 years ago.The Automation Alley universities did more than two-thirds of all such spending by Michigan’s universities. The importance of a good technical education for this state’s future — and for job opportunities for students — can’t be overemphasized by parents, educators and political leaders.
(Detroit News editorial, January 10, 2008)
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U-M, MSU RISE ON LIST OF BEST COLLEGE VALUES

Kiplinger&rs each year rates public universities, factoring in things like cost, how selective the school is, its graduation rate, and the average debt for students finishing at the school.Two of Michigan’s universities today appear on Kiplinger’s Personal Finance annual list of 100 Best Values in Public Colleges. The University of Michigan reclaimed its 2006 ranking at 16th, after falling from that spot last year to 19th. Michigan State University ranked 61th, jumping several notches from last year’s ranking at 85th and in 2006 at 94th. In 2007—08, public college education throughout the country cost in-state students an average $13,589, or a 5.9% increase over the previous academic year, the report noted. U-M costs about $19,657, and MSU costs about $17,222. However, financial aid brings down the average actual costs to less than $12,000 at each school, according to Kiplinger’s.
To see the full list or for more details, go online to: www.kiplinger.com/links/college08.
(Detroit Free Press, January 7, 2008)
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3 TECH FIRMS TO ADD 532 JOBS IN STATe

Three Ann Arbor-area technology companies are planning expansions projected to add a combined 532 jobs during the next five years, helping to ease some of the sting from Pfizer Inc.’s decision early this year to close its Ann Arbor research complex, where 2,100 people worked. The Michigan Economic Growth Authority is expected to approve tax incentives today for the projects at ProQuest LLC, Danotek Motion Technologies and Accuri Cytometers. The three firms chose to expand on sites in Ann Arbor, Pittsfield Township and Scio Township, respectively, over competing offers from Maryland, Indiana and Colorado... Other recent economic strides for the Ann Arbor area include the decision in September by Spanish aerospace firm Grupo Aernnova to locate a new engineering center and 400 jobs in Pittsfield Township, and the occupation of a vacated Pfizer lab by three new life-sciences companies in October.
(Tom Walsh, Detroit Free Press, December 18, 2007)
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WAYNE STATE BRAIN WAVE

Over the last year, traumatic brain injury has become a hot national topic. Last summer, Congress allocated $300 million to fund research into TBI and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. In November, the Wayne State Biomedical Engineering Department submitted a $25-million proposal to become the national center of TBI research. Under the proposal, Wayne State would be the lead institution, managing a consortium of 40 researchers from 14 institutions, including the University of Michigan, Henry Ford Hospital, John D. Dingell VA Medical Center in Detroit and several military labs, including TACOM in Warren.
(Detroit Free Press, December 18, 2007)
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LOYALTY A FACTOR FOR DELTA DENTAL: CEO CITES NURTURING ENVIRONOMENT IN AREA AS KEY IN EXPANSION

There are a lot of reasons for Delta Dental of Michigan to grow here, the company’s chief said Monday....The project joins a host of work by other insurers growing in the Lansing area. Together, they’re spending millions with the potential to hire more than 1,000 people....Having a cluster helps the companies feed off each other, Sepic said. They can use some of the same service companies and help create a pool of similarly skilled workers. Delta Dental’s Fleszar also said being close to Michigan State University and the University of Michigan helps provide the types of workers his insurance company needs, such as financial, actuarial and technological people. Gov. Jennifer Granholm on Monday said Delta Dental’s decision reinforces the strength of that talent pool.
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U-M BUSINESS CENTER TO BUILD ECONOMIC LINK

The University of Michigan has taken another step toward using its prowess to boost the state and local economy. A new center for bridging the gap between business and the university is set to open in February. Dubbed the Business Engagement Center, it will be a place for entrepreneurs and others to connect with U-M research and resources...It’s conceived of as a university-wide, one-stop shop for both university researchers and those interested in tapping U-M’s early-stage technology. Ken Nisbet, executive director of U-M’s Office of Technology Transfer, describes the center as a concierge service, with its staff helping make connections and providing information....This kind of operation makes sense, and reflects an acknowledgment that U-M needs to do more to foster economic development. Forrest has said the center’s success will be measured in part by the amount of use it gets, and that’s a good start. We hope that officials actively solicit feedback about its effectiveness — and follow up with changes, if necessary. U-M officials have set a goal of becoming a more effective player in the economy. The new center is another solid next step toward reaching that goal.
(Ann Arbor News editorial, December 13, 2007)

MICH. MISSES LINK BETWEEN JOBS, COLLEGE

Sarpolus asked Michigan adults what role they want the public schools to play. Forty-six percent said the schools should train students for jobs they can get with a high school degree, while 41 percent said college preparation should be the mission.While Michigan residents wait for the factory doors to reopen, up to 80,000 jobs in the technical and medical fields are unfilled for lack of qualified workers. Michigan’s hospitals and health care institutions turn over 100,000 good-paying jobs every year. Many go to out-of-staters or immigrants because the state doesn’t produce enough skilled, native-born workers. Susan Corey, manager of workforce services for the Southeast Michigan Community Alliance, says a search of Web sites turns up more than 3,000 health care openings right now in Metro Detroit; 609 banking jobs; nearly 3,000 spots in accounting fields, and, despite the troubles of the automakers, 900 engineering positions. There are even 32 openings in the aerospace industry.... So instead of just screaming college, college, college over and over again, it might be more effective to focus on the specific jobs that are going begging in Michigan, and what it takes to get them.
(Nolan Finley, Detroit News, December 9, 2007)
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OTHER VOICES: RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK CAN TEACH US

We were describing the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area of North Carolina 50 years ago. It had the second-lowest per-capita income in the U.S., with only 3.3 percent of its jobs in high-tech businesses (compared to 10.3 percent nationwide). Today it is ranked among the top-10 economic regions in the country, with per-capita income 5 percent higher than the national average.

Research Triangle Park played a vital role in that transformation. On Nov. 15, Rick Weddle, president of the park, told that story to a Leaders Without Borders audience, focusing on the role that talent played in his region’s renaissance. Today, that region absorbs the talent grown by its colleges and universities, and it attracts talent from around the world. In its time, Triangle Park benefited from cheap real estate, a low-cost business climate and the post-World War II industrial boom. Today, though, Weddle says those factors are secondary to that of human capital — the talent pool. “People are your greatest asset, and you’ve got some pretty good folks,” he said. Weddle showed that North Carolina and Michigan produce college graduates and post-graduate degrees at comparable rates, and Michigan generates higher levels of R&D funding. Colleges and universities will shape that talent into the raw material of the new information economy, according to A New Agenda for a New Michigan by Michigan Future, which says, “Research universities may be the most important assets Michigan has. ... One can make a strong case that the most productive state and local economic growth policies over the past several decades have been public investments in research universities in Austin, San Diego, and North Carolina’s Research Triangle.” According to Weddle, tobacco ruled his region, just as the auto industry has ruled Detroit. In North Carolina, building a critical mass of research and scientific laboratories and facilities meant loosening tobacco’s hold on decision-making and resources. Weddle’s advice to Detroit echoes that of Michigan Future, which says, “The odds are that a new leadership structure needs to be created. Current leadership is predominantly connected to the old, declining economy. ... The most likely place to start building a new leadership is with leaders of those enterprises that are competing nationally or, better yet, internationally for talent. They are the enterprises who care most about our ability to prepare, retain, and attract talent.” Technologically, our leap from manufacturing to the information economy isn’t as wide a chasm as North Carolina’s leap from agriculture to high-tech. The knowledge and experience that deploy airbags, keep paint from fading, machine precision parts and unlock our cars when we’ve locked the keys inside should adapt readily to targeted growth industries, such as alternative energy, homeland security, advanced manufacturing and life sciences. Research Triangle Park invented itself from whole cloth. We in Southeast Michigan have two advantages: We can learn from Triangle Park’s success. And, we have many of the raw materials that can jump-start the vehicles taking us to economic recovery.
(Barbara Gray, executive director of Leadership Detroit and Lisa Kolody, executive director of Leadership Windsor-Essex in Crain’s Detroit Business, December 3, 2007)
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MICHIGAN HAS TOOLS TO FIX ECONOMY: USING COLLEGES AS A RESOURCE IS KEY

North Carolina’s economy added 68,200 jobs from October 2006 to October 2007, while Michigan lost 75,000 jobs. The Research Triangle Park, now 7,000 acres, was formed in 1959 on scrub farmland located midway between three major universities — Duke, North Carolina and North Carolina State. It now has more than 40,000 full-time workers at 160 companies and research agencies, including IBM, Cisco, Nortel Networks, Lenovo, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Pretty impressive, eh? Yes it is, but as Weddle pointed out, North Carolina’s key brainpower assets don’t measure up to Michigan’s. Michigan’s top three universities — Michigan, Michigan State and Wayne State — had 9,400 graduate students and post-doctorates in science, engineering and health care in 2004. North Carolina’s big three schools had only 8,000. In addition, Michigan’s top universities attracted more research and development money than North Carolina’s, with the University of Michigan easily the most robust research university in the two states. “There is lots of opportunity in Michigan,” Weddle said. But the state’s business community, government and universities must work more closely together to grow the economy... U-M President Mary Sue Coleman has been very active of late in spurring formation of the regional economical development group Ann Arbor SPARK and joining with MSU and WSU to form the University Research Corridor alliance a year ago. Those are good first steps. But the Research Triangle Park has been around for 48 years now in North Carolina. Can Michigan’s flagship universities, business and political leaders chart a course and remain committed to it for the long haul? Our state’s economic future may depend on it.
(Tom Walsh, Detroit Free Press, November 23, 2007)
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COLLEGES RATES HIGH IN GLOBAL REACH

Michigan State University and the University of Michigan are among the nation’s leaders for international education opportunities, according to a report released Monday. MSU ranks second in the nation with 2,558 undergraduate and graduate students studying abroad and earning credit for school.
(Detroit News, November 16, 2007)
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AN INTERNATIONAL TWIST

Michigan State University is No. 2 in the nation for sending students to study abroad; and it ranks 16th in the nation for bringing international students here to study. Those numbers are impressive and help reinforce the value of the University Research Corridor institutions — MSU, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University. Indeed, U-M is ranked sixth in the nation for attracting international students. According to research for the URC, skilled immigrants drawn here by the higher education opportunities have a major impact on Michigan’s economy. In fact, 33 percent of high tech startups in the state from 1995 to 2005 were launched by foreign-born founders, many of whom came here to study at a URC school. Michigan’s manufacturing economy has been buffeted by the “global economy,” but the strong efforts of the research universities to become international leaders in educating the knowledge economy workforce should give the state hope of a brighter future.
(Lansing State Journal editorial, November 17, 2007)
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BEFRIEND THE WORLD STARTING AT COLLEGE LEVEL

A more streamlined visa process has helped top schools such as the University of Michigan and Michigan State University build on their long-standing reputations for international studies. Their recruiting of overseas students pays off beyond bringing diversity and a global reputation to campus. Of the high-tech start-ups created in Michigan between 1995-2005, a third were begun by foreigners drawn to the state by one of its universities. That’s a fact Michigan should be helping its universities trumpet and build on.
(Detroit Free Press editorial, November 16, 2007)
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U-M PRESIDENT MARY SUE COLEMAN: FIVE YEARS FORWARD

For the past year, we have worked arm-in-arm with Michigan State University and Wayne State University to capitalize upon our combined research assets for the state’s benefit. As the University Research Corridor, our institutions bring in 95 percent of all the external R&D dollars that come into the state. And together we conduct well over $1.3 billion in research activity. It is probable that within five years, U-M will cross the threshold of $1 billion annually in research, and the contributions of MSU and Wayne State will only add to the firepower of the URC. And still, U-M can do more. For our state to prosper, we absolutely must cultivate a stronger culture of innovation and entrepreneurship. We should remember with pride that pioneers like Henry Ford, Herbert H. Dow and W.K. Kellogg shaped the 20th century and made our state a powerhouse of manufacturing and technology. And we must remind ourselves and our community that U-M was founded to improve the public welfare through engagement. Drawing on this heritage, we are prepared to embark on a partnership with society that is a first for higher education. Joining with Michigan’s other public universities and leading foundations across the state, we propose a collaboration to drive innovation and entrepreneurship for developing knowledge-based industries in Michigan. The Michigan Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative, with at least $100 million available in resources, will be funded by foundations and universities themselves. The Initiative will advance commercialization of university research, promote partnerships between higher education and industry, and propel the work of entrepreneurial students and faculty. This will evolve into a massive public-private partnership. It is, in effect, an investment in the people and ideas that emerge from our public universities as drivers of a knowledge-based economy. We have received $2 million in seed funding from the C.S. Mott Foundation for our initial planning. With supporters from the Council of Michigan Foundations and the foundation community at the table with us, we look forward to launching the Initiative in the months ahead. There are many, many details to process, but this should not hinder us from finding ways to jumpstart the Michigan economy.
(U-M President Mary Sue Coleman, November 15, 2007)
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BIO R&D CENTER PROGRESSING

Transforming a former Pfizer Inc. lab in Holland into a bio research-and-development center is on track amid high interest in the project...Pfizer decided last May to donate the closed $50 million facility on the north shore of Lake Macatawa to Michigan State University...Supporters of the project envision the center becoming a hub of bio R&D into materials using agricultural and plant materials, rather than petroleum or chemicals.... The growing demand for sustainable materials and products has made the bio center primarily a market-driven project, MSU President Lou Anna Simon said. “It’s gone a bit from a university-driven research program to an industry-driven research program,” Simon said. “We’re getting more and more participants and better ideas than we had in the beginning.” MSU aims to raise about $5 million for the project, Simon said.
(Michigan Business News, November 12, 2007)
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COMPANY TRACKS ECONOMIC EVOLUTION

Michigan is evolving from a factory-based economy toward a knowledge-based economy. But measuring this transition is not as easy as it may seem... Michigan ranks second among the states with more than $16 billion a year in such spending by government, universities and industry, according to the National Science Foundation. But there, too, the spending reflects Michigan’s huge automotive base. Auto companies spend the vast majority of the state’s R&D dollars. To get around the difficulties, the Anderson Group tracks several other data points: Enrollment rates in engineering and science schools, patent registration activity, R&D spending at universities and other indicators. A lot of the information comes from the NSF, and much of it is encouraging. Three schools — University of Michigan, Michigan State and Wayne State — rank in the top 75 universities nationwide for research spending. U-M ranks second in the nation behind only Johns Hopkins. And in an encouraging diversification, two-thirds of university research spending in the state, or nearly $900 million a year, goes to life sciences.
(Detroit Free Press, November 11, 2007)
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UPDATE MICHIGAN’S EMBRYONIC RESEARCH LAWS

The state has pinned some of its hopes for economic recovery on creating a biomedical medical research corridor by developing synergy among the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Wayne State University and medical research institutes in Grand Rapids. Michigan’s laws are a reflection of right-to-life advocates who argue any embryonic research is an affront to life and prefer adult stem cell research. But the reality is that tens of thousands of embryos already are discarded or await that fate. Advocates of reform are exploring a ballot initiative for 2008. It shouldn’t come to that. The state Legislature should act to bring Michigan’s stem cell research laws in line with federal regulations.
(Detroit News editorial, November 8, 2007)
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HOPEFUL SIGN

Simon is less inclined to lament Michigan State’s football woes versus Michigan than to extol the “rhythm of collaboration” that exists between Michigan State and Michigan, which is presided over by Simon’s friend and colleague, Mary Sue Coleman. There is a new, unprecedented synergy of research and economic resources being infused into the Great Lakes basin by the schools, she said, in step with other Big Ten universities that are attempting to reshape the region, commercially and culturally.
(Lynn Henning, Detroit News, November 7, 2007)
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PICK A TEAM, AND CHEER ON TWO WINNING SCHOOLS

The great thing about all this for Michigan is to be the home of two such renowned institutions, each a mighty contributor to the history of the state and each with a major role to play in the future of Michigan. Lost in all the hoopla over their athletic rivalry are the many joint ventures they undertake in their classrooms, laboratories and outreach programs to make Michigan and, indeed, the world, a better place. And for a few hours on one Saturday each fall, they provide an entertaining distraction from the issues of the day. In these tough times for Michigan, that’s a real public service. Go blue. Go green. Whatever the final score, the people of Michigan win with these two giants around.
(Detroit Free Press editorial, November 2, 2007)
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GRANHOLM’S LEGACY LIES WITH BOOSTING THE KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY

As a gifted communicator, she can go directly to the people of Michigan and build support for the investments we need, especially in higher education. Those investments might include putting more money in the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, which futurists say will be the Midwest’s only new economy job hub outside Chicago, than in schools such as Ferris State University. Not all schools create jobs equally and thus shouldn’t be funded equally. Another idea: Hold a special bond issue or tax initiative for all state research universities, the new job generators.
(Amber Arellano, The Detroit News, October 26, 2007)
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PHIL POWER: WE’RE STRANGLING A HUGE ASSET

Several hundred people who attended last week’s two-day conference in Ann Arbor on “The Role of Engaged Universities in Economic Transformation” were showered with the new reality of how central our research institutions are to the economic future of our troubled state.....Any company facing trouble immediately identifies its most important, proprietary competitive assets and mounts a sustained investment program to build them up, gain market share and build the bottom line. Michigan, by contrast, has chosen to strangle one of our few competitive assets. The wonder is not that people are dismayed. The wonder is that people — especially those who have children and who care about the future — are not absolutely furious and marching on Lansing and talking about recalls over this.
(Phil Power, The Center for Michigan, October 25, 2007)
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ANN ARBOR NEWS: BENEFITS OF RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES ARE CLEAR

This week’s economic impact forum at the University of Michigan was meant to both showcase the strength of the state’s three major research universities, as well as to discuss what more they can do to help Michigan’s economy. It’s in the best interest of U-M, Michigan State University and Wayne State University to do both — economic impact is a major selling point to state lawmakers who hold the purse strings for part of their funding. United a year ago under the umbrella moniker University Research Corridor, the universities recently released an annual report — online at www.urcmich.org/commentary/2007AnnualReport.pdf — to put some numbers to their claims. Those numbers are impressive.....At this week’s two-day event, U-M also gave updates in projects focused on economic development that have been in the works for several months....hese are all tangible benefits, and signs of what we hope is a continued growing engagement in economic development. It’s hard to overestimate the importance of U-M for both our local economy and the state.
(October 18, 2007)
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THE DETROIT NEWS: EDUCATION INVESTMENTS PAY OFF IN JOBS, GROWTH
U-M, MSU, WSU HIGHLIGHT NEW PRODUCTS, DEVELOPMENTS

The underlying message at the Ann Arbor conference was clear: Invest in higher education, and the state will reap enormous benefits. Such work takes more money than Michigan has been devoting to higher education. Instead, the Granholm administration has slashed university funding, and the schools have responded with destructive tuition hikes, making it more difficult for middle- and working-class students to attend college. As they finalize the budget, the governor and lawmakers should find other areas to cut to commit more money to higher education. Making education a much higher budget priority will send the message that Michigan is prepared to compete for 21st-century jobs.
(Detroit News editorial, October 17, 2007)
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TOM WALSH: WHO SHOULD SHAKE STATE OUT OF RUT?

Are Michigan’s major universities ready to step up to a more activist role in fostering economic growth, including a more direct role in local and national politics? It’s not something that comes naturally. The University of Michigan has long existed as an intellectual outpost, in many ways a world apart from the hurly-burly of industrial Detroit... And MSU, WSU and all the other state universities depend in part on the largesse of government for financing. Can they afford to take bold, sometimes controversial positions on issues in those many areas where business and economics meet public policy? If not our big prestigious universities, who will step forward to lead Michigan’s complacent people and hapless politicians out of the economic wilderness?
(Tom Walsh, Detroit Free Press, October 16, 2007)
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BIG THREE UNIVERSITIES TOUT THEIR ECONOMIC VALUE TO MICHIGAN

The University of Michigan has helped transform a former Pfizer facility into an incubator for startup companies, just one example of how research universities can rev up the economy, U-M leaders said today. The announcement was one initiative unveiled today at a University Research Corridor conference on the role universities have in economic development. The research corridor, an alliance of U-M, Michigan State University and Wayne State University, was formed in November to more effectively usher inventions from their labs to the marketplace and to attract fresh jobs to Michigan. “The University Research Corridor is still a fledging organization, but we are leveraging our assets across the state to accelerate economic growth,” U-M President Mary Sue Coleman said in a statement.
(Marisa Schultz, The Detroit News, October 15, 2007)
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BREWED FRESH DAILY: NEWS AND OPINION FROM CLEVELAND, OHI

Talk of merging The University of Akron and Cleveland State University is a costly diversion. Instead, focus on strengthening collaborations. Think university collaborations in Research Triangle. Or, Michigan’s University Research Corridor.
(Brewed Fresh Daily: News and opinion from Cleveland, Ohio, October 1, 2007)
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REID LEAVES STRONG WAYNE STATE LEGACY

Wayne State University President Irvin Reid is resigning his position next year, but he leaves the university in good shape. The university’s first African-American president helped form the University Research Corridor with the University of Michigan and Michigan State University to leverage their research efforts for better economic effect. He revitalized campus life and joined with a private developer in creating a major apartment complex in midtown. Enrollment grew, and the university conducted its first major fund-raising effort. That’s a legacy that will pay off for Wayne State long after Reid is gone.
(Detroit News editorial, September 29, 2007)

STATE HIGHER ED FUNDING LAGS, WHILE OTHERS INVEST

As Michigan’s state legislators scrap over whether to give the state’s universities a moderate funding increase or no new money at all, other Midwestern states are investing in higher education. And, in some cases, they’re investing big. In Ohio, for example, the state legislature has agreed to pump $254 million into the state’s public universities to pay for a two-year tuition freeze. he legislature also ponied up $150 million to recruit senior scholars who do research in fields such as advanced materials, biosciences, information technology and alternative energy and to give scholarships to students studying math and science. In Indiana, the state’s universities got a 9.8 percent increase in state funding for the next two years, including $20 million for Indiana’s three research universities to expand their life sciences programs and $30 million more to build their research operations generally. The University of Minnesota system got a 14.3 percent state funding increase for the next two years. The state’s college got a 12 percent increase. In Iowa, where state coffers are swelling, thanks in part to a growing biofuels industry, public universities are getting a state funding increase of almost 10 percent...Michigan ranks 47th in growth of higher education funding over the past decade, according to the Center for the Study of Education Policy.
(Matthew Miller, Lansing State Journal, September 24, 2007
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THIS REGION MUST DIVERSIFY TO SUCCEED

Southeast Michigan has a rare opportunity to diversify into two crucial industries for which it is uniquely positioned: biotechnology and alternative energy...In the ’70s and early ’80s, when North Carolina was in a situation similar to Detroit and Michigan, it crafted the “research triangle” to attract and replace jobs lost in the textile industry. North Carolina relied on its low cost of living, access to labor and universities, and physical beauty to attract world-class companies...The success and growth of the biotech and alternative-energy industries is just the technology engine we need. With access to degreed engineers and technically skilled workers who have recently been downsized or are looking for job changes, the Detroit region needs to capitalize on its assets and, more importantly, start to behave and think positively about itself and the chances of success.
(Susan Brennan, director of the manufacturing business office at Ford Motor Co. writing in Crain’s Detroit Business, October 8, 2007)

UNIVERSITIES CAN PLAY MAJOR ROLE IN ECONOMY

One of the greatest assets our state holds is the strength of its universities. From expertise in health care and business to the depth of research and the sheer buying power of these institutions, higher education plays a major role in Michigan’s economy. That role will be highlighted at a two-day regional conference this month in Ann Arbor, organized by the state’s three major research universities: the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University. The Oct. 15-16 event is tied to a National Academies Study titled, “Rising Above the Gathering Storm.” But for Michigan, the economic storm isn’t just gathering — it’s already here, in all its fury. In a letter to participants, U-M vice president for research, Stephen Forrest, writes that all speakers have been asked “to put forward ideas that are ‘revolutionary, not evolutionary.’” Indeed, we hope this event is infused with urgency, with the kind of revolutionary ideas that Forrest calls for.
(Ann Arbor News editorial, October 1, 2007)
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UNIVERSITIES’ RETURN ON INVESTMENT

Not even the shrewdest private equity gurus on Wall Street can expect a 700 percent return on investment. But that’s what Michigan gets with its Big Three research universities, according to the universities’ latest economic study. The study, by Anderson Economic Group in Lansing, calculates a $12.8 billion annual economic impact by University of Michigan, Michigan State University, and Wayne State University. All that for an annual state budget appropriation of less than $1.8 billion (and shrinking). Turning all those bright minds and research dollars into “tech transfers” that directly grow and diversify the economy remains one of the univesities’ biggest challenges and responsibilities....Other states are competing hard. This is the worst time in Michigan’s history to deplete the higher education storehouse. It is the best time for us to invest in the power of the future.
(The Center for Michigan newsletter, September 28, 2007)

U-M TECH TRANSFER: RECORD NUMBER OF INVENTION DISCLOSURES IN FY2007

University of Michigan researchers disclosed 329 new inventions in fiscal year 2007 — an all-time high and a 14 percent increase over the previous year. Results also included 144 U.S. patent applications and 87 issued patents in that same time period. Royalty revenues increased 19 percent to nearly $13 million, providing a source for continued reinvestment that will strengthen future interactions with industry. U-M negotiated 91 technology agreements, including seven with new business startups in the last fiscal year, which ended June 30. The total number of U-M startups over the last seven years is 62, with more than 60 percent of the new businesses located in Michigan — primarily in greater Ann Arbor. “This success is a prime reason Ann Arbor was singled out as being on the verge of becoming one of the world’s hot spots for startups by Fast Company magazine in July,” said Ken Nisbet, executive director of U-M Tech Transfer.
(U-M Tech Transfer, September 28, 2007)

NEEDED: STATE LEADERS TO INVEST IN HIGHER EDUCATION

College students in Michigan are concerned at the failure of the Michigan Legislature to invest in higher education and keep tuition affordable. For example, at Michigan State University, state appropriations decreased from 2000 to 2005 by 12 percent, while average undergraduate expenses increased by 35 percent. This demonstrates that student tuition dollars are used to make up deficiencies in state funding. As participants in the knowledge creation industry, we are concerned about the Legislature’s inability to address future needs of the state. Funding for higher education is essential to bring Michigan’s economic transformation to fruition...Other states are competing hard. This is the worst time in Michigan’s history to deplete the higher education storehouse. It is the best time for us to invest in the power of the future.
(Debbie Chang of Students United to Promote Enhanced Revenues for Education and Economic Development, September 28, 2007)

BIG THREE SCHOOLS ACCOUNT FOR 68,803 MICHIGAN JOBS

“This is no time for the state to say we’re going to keep the status quo,” U-M President Mary Sue Coleman said. “We’re in a fight for our lives here.” The three, which last year formed the University Research Corridor, are pushing state government to separate their funding from Michigan’s 12 smaller universities. Increased funding could someday put the corridor in the same league as California’s Silicon Valley, North Carolina’s Research Triangle and Boston’s health care and high-tech clusters, say Coleman and her colleagues at MSU and Wayne.
(Rick Haglund, Booth Newspapers, September 24, 2007)

THE ENTREPRENEURS PERSPECTIVE

Michigan must put its money where its mouth is as it identifies promising strategies for change. The state, for instance, talks a big game when it comes to the importance of nurturing and attracting the creative class. But the recent trend is to continually slash education spending even as the overall state budget grows. That, he said, is a sure way to stifle the output of talented workers and erode the state’s competitive advantage in the Digital Age. “The only solution to our economic problems is knowledge and innovation,” Dr. Forrest said... Manufacturing workers in Michigan, he says, earn $14,000 a year more than the rest of the nation. Meanwhile, knowledge workers make about $7,000 less. “That’s the bottom line.”
(Rapid Growth Media, September 20, 2007)
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MARY SUE COLEMAN WELCOMES SPANISH AEROSPACE COMPANY TO STATE

Students in our aerospace engineering program like to wear a T-shirt that says, “As a matter of fact, I am a rocket scientist.” But you don’t need an engineering degree to appreciate the power of Michigan’s research universities to propel our state’s economy. Attracting companies like Aernnova specifically demonstrates how the University Research Corridor can — and does — make our state a leader in attracting and supporting innovative and entrepreneurial firms. We’re seeing it with Michigan State and its work to bring together the Swedish firm Chemrec and the Upper Peninsula’s New Page Corporation to establish a biofuel plant in Escanaba. We’re seeing it with Wayne State and the spectacular rebirth of a Detroit neighborhood through its entrepreneurial TechTown initiative. And we’re seeing it with the University of Michigan and the location in Ann Arbor of high-tech firms like Google, Barracuda Networks, and today, Aernnova.
(U-M President Mary Sue Coleman, at the announcement that Spanish aerospace company Aernnova is establishing an engineering center close to U-M, creating up to 600 direct jobs in Michigan.)

UNIVERSITIES: MICHIGAN’S RESEARCH CORRIDOR MUST BE USED TO DEVELOP NEW INDUSTRIES

Michigan’s three research universities are worth a strong investment from the state if they continue to create new economic activity that leads to new jobs. Indeed, the university presidents might say, “Bring it on.” Last spring the presidents of Michigan State University, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University made the rounds urging leaders and lawmakers to recognize their status as a “research corridor” and the economic catalyst they can and do provide. Earlier this month, the three research universities released a study they commissioned on their economic impact on the state. It’s not small. The Anderson Economic Group’s four-month review found that the schools combine to create nearly 69,000 Michigan jobs and produced nearly $13 billion in net economic benefit in 2006.... It’s a compelling argument, particularly when they start comparing the impact of MSU, U-M and WSU with other nationally acclaimed university research centers such as the Research Triangle in North Carolina or Boston’s 128 Corridor, which includes Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Yes, our Michigan schools are in the same league.... In their 11th hour budget frenzy, lawmakers must not lose sight of this opportunity.
(Lansing State Journal editorial, September 18, 2007)

A DIFFERENT STANDARD: RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES OFFER MORE, DESERVE MORE IN RETURN

With state lawmakers set to decide on funding for public universities for fiscal year 2008, the state’s University Research Corridor — composed of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Michigan State University and Wayne State University — released a report this week that highlights those three institutions’ immense contributions to the state.... This data is hard evidence of the fact that research universities deserve more funding because they help the state in ways the other 12 public universities do not. All public institutions in the state are essential to the recovery of the local economy and will eventually supply well-educated citizens.... The resources and jobs brought to the table by the major research institutions cannot be ignored, especially with a lack of income being raised for the state through other outlets. While total revenue for the MRC has gone up since 2002, state funding has fallen 13 percent...

Despite the state’s budget crunch, it is important for state lawmakers to remember that they cannot ignore the funding needs of state universities, including the special needs of the URC. If they’re still in doubt, they can just look at the numbers.
(The Michigan Daily, September 12, 2007)
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UNIVERSITY RESEARCH CORRIDOR REPORT

A glimpse of light in Michigan’s otherwise dark economic picture. The state’s three research universities, which make up the University Research Corridor, released a report Monday that says their work last year helped create nearly 70-thousand jobs with close to 13-billion dollars of net economic benefit.
(WWJ, September 10, 2007)

CAMPUS FACE-LIFT: OVER 10 YEARS, WSU PRESIDENT HAS MADE A MARK

As Reid celebrates his 10th year as Wayne State’s president this week, there’s little doubt that he’s left his mark, redefining the university as a powerful economic engine for Detroit, creating residential life on campus and elevating the university’s national profile....Reid has built a research development park, TechTown, and partnered with private developers to create South University Village, which will include the first major market-rate apartment complex in the city in about 30 years, according to Wayne State. He pioneered the construction of three dorms on the commuter campus, invigorated the neighboring community and led the university’s first major fundraising effort.
(Marisa Schultz, The Detroit News, September 7, 2007)
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WAGE GAP IN MICHIGAN EXPANDING, STUDY SAYS

The pay gap between Michigan workers with college degrees and those without them is widening dramatically, according to a report released today...According to the study, workers holding at least a bachelor’s degree earned about $11 an hour in 1984, compared with $7 an hour for those without degrees. ... In 2005, the study found, workers holding at least a bachelor’s degree had a median wage of $24 an hour. That compared with about $12 an hour for a high school graduate and less than $10 an hour for a dropout.
(Lansing State Journal, September 3, 2007)

KALAMAZOO FIRM FINDS SUCCESS IN INNOVATION

In a state battling a high-cost, Rust Belt reputation, this medical-device maker is quietly bucking all the stereotypes.Consider this: Stryker’s stock price has soared nearly 600% during the last decade. Its market value exceeds that of both General Motors Corp. or Ford Motor Co. And over the next five years, it plans to hire 15,000 workers, doubling its global workforce. Most of the company’s workforce is outside of Michigan. At a time when many startup health care companies in Michigan are trying to get off the ground, Stryker’s success shows it is possible to grow a medical technology leader in a region known mostly for industrial manufacturing. “It’s a terrific example of the kind of constant innovation we need,” said Lou Glazer, president of Michigan Future Inc., an Ann Arbor think tank focused on the state’s economy. “They are one of the great Michigan corporate success stories.” The Kalamazoo-based company, founded 66 years ago in the city by orthopedic surgeon and University of Michigan grad Homer Stryker, is rapidly emerging as one of the premier innovators of medical devices of all kinds, from artificial knees and hips to hospital beds and the tools used in major surgeries.
(Detroit Free Press, August 12, 2007)
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SCHOOL CUTS ARE A TAX ON COLLEGE STUDENTS

From 2001 to 2006, Michigan cut spending on higher education by more than any other state in the country, according to a study by Illinois State University. If that wasn’t bad enough, it found that during the last five years Michigan led the nation in reducing support for colleges and universities. We cut support to the engine that creates our future by around 13 percent. Nationally, the rest of the states increased higher education funding, on average by 15 percent over the same period... According to the Senate Fiscal Agency, Michigan spends $1.9 billion on a prison system with 51,000 inmates and employs nearly 18,000 full time employees. This is now slightly less than the amount the state spends on public universities. And the Department of Corrections budget keeps going up, while higher education gets cut just as regularly. It costs the state more than $30,000 a year to warehouse one felon, while state support for one college student is a mere $6,000. Is this a sensible choice?
(Phil Power, Hometown Newspapers, August 2, 2007)
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HIGHER ED SPENDING SHOULD PUSH REFORM

TRAVERSE CITY — Legislators could see new recommendations on the higher education budgets when Governor Jennifer Granholm returns from the National Governor’s Association Annual Meeting here. Consultants speaking to governors urged them to use funding to incentivize universities to help meet state economic development goals and said none of the states are effectively doing that. States have been asking their colleges and universities to become bigger players in improving state economies, but they have maintained funding formulas that encourage the status quo, consultants told governors Sunday. For higher education institutions to be encouraged to change course, states have to structure the funding to incent those changes. And they have to know exactly what it is they want and need from universities, the governors were told... Because neither chamber has yet passed a higher education budget for fiscal year 2007-08, Ms. Granholm said there was still time to look at what other incentives might be worked into that spending plan.
(Gongwer News Service, July 22, 2007)

BUSINESS LEADERS TO N.G.A.: UNIVERSITIES KEY TO NEW ECONOMY

TRAVERSE CITY — Although Michigan hasn’t historically had an entrepreneurial economy, its state universities — their ability to market a niche for themselves and turn out new innovations — mean the state has great potential of turning its economy around, business professionals said Sunday at the National Governors Association Economic Development and Commerce Committee, which Governor Jennifer Granholm vice chaired.... Ms. Granholm said that she thought the idea to focus higher education funding on those that turn out the most intellectual property is worth pursuing because “development of ideas creates jobs.”.... With all of the challenges that exist, he said, Michigan can be proud, as the University of Michigan holds the third place ranking, behind M.I.T. and Stanford, for getting ideas to the market place, as measured by royalties. Rey More, chief quality officer for Motorola, Inc., said that if states could replicate the kind of synergy that exists at universities such as U of M and North Carolina, at their Center for Entreprenueralism, universities would be one of the top assets in the marketplace.Another successful strategy for universities, said Robert Heard, managing director of Cimarron Capital Partners, an investment firm, is to brand a region by what the universities do best. In Michigan, Ms. Granholm said, that means alternative energy research, as evidenced by Michigan State University and other educational leaders in the field.
(Gongwer News Service, July 22, 2007)

CEOs TO GOVERNORS: PROMOTE SCHOOLS, SPREAD INTERNET ACCESS

TRAVERSE CITY — States that educate children the best and provide broadband Internet service and other technology to the most people will do best in the competitive global economy, two of the nation’s top communication executives told the nation’s governors Saturday... (Google CEO Eric) Schmidt told reporters he’s pleased with Google’s new operation in Ann Arbor... “The energy level is phenomenal,” he said, adding that... it’s the fastest-growing center in Google. Schmidt said Michigan has much going for it because of its skilled workforce.
(Detroit Free Press, July 22, 2007)
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STATE IN RACE FOR FIRST COMMERICAL ETHANOL PLANT TO USE WOOD

A Boston-based company has chosen Michigan to have one of the nation’s first commercial ethanol plant to use wood and other cellulose material instead of corn, Gov. Jennifer Granholm announced today. Jamerson said he was convinced to build the plant in Michigan because of the state’s availability of wood, its universities and a $50-million federal grant to Michigan State University to develop methods to produce ethanol from grass.
(Detroit Free Press, July 19, 2007)

Michigan must revamp higher education policy

Like Michigan’s old business tax, higher education policy is still largely a reflection of the state’s industrial era. And like the business tax, the state’s overall approach to higher education needs to be revamped. The Big Three university leaders have at least started a dialogue by calling for a separate state appropriations bill for their colleges, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University. Naturally, these institutions are looking out for their best interests and for good reason. But they make an excellent point that top-rank research schools can be economic drivers...Michigan needs the Big Three schools to thrive — and vice versa. Developing a stronger Michigan-Big Three partnership to boost college access and economic development should be a key part of the needed overhaul of the state’s higher education policy.
(Detroit News editorial, July 16, 2007)

INVESTING IN MICHIGAN

“Michigan is well known for both its innovation and bright people. What we don’t have is capital,” Bund explains. “MGCS helps bring in the capital by attracting so many investors in one place.” It’s this concentration of capital that can launch the next Esperion. A true Michigan success story, Esperion Therapeutics presented at the 1998 symposium and was eventually bought out by Pfizer for $1.3 billion in February 2004...Of course, much of this would be impossible without the talent and research produced by Michigan’s Big Three universities.
(Scott Paul Dunham, metromode, July 12, 2007)
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DETROIT FREE PRESS: END THE SQUEEZE ON HIGHER EDUCATION

There is little sign of interest among legislators in treating higher education as the asset it is. In the current budget squeeze, support for higher education is always among the first things to be delayed or slashed at crisis time. This is despite universal acknowledgement that Michigan needs a better educated workforce and the demonstrable benefits of research that attracts $1.3 billion from the federal government to the three largest schools, the University of Michigan, Wayne State and Michigan State. On average, states have boosted their support for public colleges and universities by 15% over the past five years while Michigan has cut its payments in each of the past six.
(Detroit Free Press, In Our Opinion, June 29, 2007)
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REWARDING RESEARCH COLLEGES CREATES MORE MICHIGAN JOBS

One simple truth is clear: We cannot follow the status quo and expect different results... We must differentiate the state’s assets for greater leverage and accountability. Michigan’s research-intensive universities have a unique role in fostering the innovation that will fuel new industries and create jobs.
(The URC presidents writing for The Detroit News, June 2, 2007)
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THINK POSITIVELY, U-M EXPERT SAYS: JOBS IN EDUCATION, HEALTH CARE AMONG THE BRIGHT SPOTS

As the report makes clear, there’s no question Michigan’s 20th-Century economic model is fading. The state’s factory jobs shrank 27% between 1997 and 2006, while automotive parts manufacturing slid even more, down nearly 34% during that time. But at the same time, jobs increased in health care, education, professional and technical services, scientific consulting and other fields. Employment in colleges, universities and professional schools rose nearly 72% during the past 10 years. Also positive, Michigan ranks as a top-10 state in several scientific and technical fields, including patents awarded, the percentage of engineers in the workforce and employment in high-tech enterprises. “We have some real, honest, serious assets that would support a knowledge economy,” Ivacko said. “If we choose not to focus on those, we’re just holding ourselves back.”
(Detroit Free Press, June 22, 2007)
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STATE’S INVENTORS HELP BRIGHT DIM OUTLOOK IN MICHIGAN

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ranks Michigan fifth in number of patents issued. Only residents of California, New York, Texas and Massachusetts received more patents than Michigan’s local heroic inventors....The auto companies play a significant role in the state’s inventive edge, but they’re not the only major influence. Dow Chemical generates patents. So do the universities — including Michigan State, Michigan, Wayne State and Michigan Technological in Houghton.
(Laura Berman, The Detroit News, June 12, 2007)
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CRAIN’S DETROIT SURVEY: MICHIGAN NEEDS A NEW ECONOMIC IDENTITY

Michigan needs a new economic identity and is moving away from historic dependence on its industrial and automotive prowess to lure business and investment. But what its new image will be and who will shape it remains a mystery, according to a new survey of 511 Southeast Michigan business owners, officers and managers. The survey, conducted May 14-18 for Crain’s Detroit Business and Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn L.L.P., found uncertainty or “no clear winner” among plans for revitalizing the state economy. But in a field of 30 specific industry choices, just 10 percent chose automotive among the “most important in shaping the future” economy, and the highest vote-getter, “high-tech” industry, garnered just 19 percent of the responses. Most popular for respondents as “top priority” initiatives that could drive economic development were technology and research that would encourage innovation, more venture capital for start-up and developing companies, less government and improving colleges and universities.... Some 63 percent considered it a “top priority” to “develop more high technology research centers,” and another 36 percent considered it moderately or mildly important. Virtually no one considered that area unimportant.
(Crain’s Detroit Business, June 11, 2007)
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A TALE OF 2 MICHIGANS

Jennifer Baird is that rare thing — an optimist about Michigan’s economy. Baird heads Ann Arbor-based Accuri Cytometers. The University of Michigan spin-off firm with 13 employees is testing biomedical instrument technology that it hopes to market to cell researchers around the world.... Yet even as Michigan’s signature industry continues to struggle, there are signs of hope elsewhere in the state. Michigan’s three major research universities — U-M, MSU and Wayne State University — are contributing to the growth of life sciences and other new high-tech industries of the future. U-M alone has been spinning off an average of eight to 10 high-tech firms each year for the past five years, said Ken Nisbet, executive director of U-M’s Tech Transfer office.
(Detroit Free Press, June 10, 2007)
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STATE SHOULD SUPPORT ITS RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES

They cite the Anderson study as evidence that university research can revive Michigan’s flagging economy, creating the high-paying, high-tech jobs the state needs to replace employment losses in the automotive industry. They make a good case. Only a few states have three research universities as strong as Michigan’s. The brain-power contained in the three universities ought to be a powerful magnet for drawing venture capitalists and entrepreneurs to the state. The business community should be working much more closely with the three universities on projects that have the potential to generate economic growth. And their research activities should get the highest claim on university appropriations. The other dozen public universities in Michigan are fighting the funding proposal, saying it will strip them of dollars they need to raise the quality of their campuses. Several of the smaller schools fancy themselves as research universities as well or aspire to become such. But Michigan can’t support 15 research schools. It already has three established, vigorous research centers, and the best investment would be to develop them to their full potential. Knowledge is the capital of the 21st century, and the schools that make up this University Research Corridor give Michigan a rare advantage. The state should seek to make the most impact with its increasingly scarce higher education dollars by investing a greater proportion in the three research schools.
(Detroit News, May 31, 2007)
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MICHIGAN NEEDS TO LOOK SOUTH

Forty years ago Detroit was the engine that drove America. Before the ’67 riots in Detroit, the city and its synonymous industry commanded the vast majority of the U.S. car market, essentially a license to print money. The Carolinas back then were comparatively poor, more agrarian than industrial, more Tobacco Road than the information superhighway. Two generations later, they have Research Triangle Park connecting three major universities and rising personal income. Michigan doesn’t, and despite being home to three prominent state universities, it’s only beginning to leverage their untapped power in the service of economic development — when, that is, the Legislature isn’t whacking their budgets...The business-and-political establishment of the Carolinas is doing what their counterparts in Michigan and here on Mackinac Island are only beginning to comprehend amid a gloomy fiscal outlook: Leveraging the power of higher education drives economic growth, attracts foreign and domestic investment and improves the caliber of would-be employees.
(Daniel Howes Detroit News, May 31, 2007)
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MICHIGAN’S RESEARCH CORRIDOR RIVALS OTHERS

The report comes as the state’s 15 public universities are facing budget cuts and delays in state aid that total $166 million for the 2006-07 fiscal year. And they’re worried about what the state appropriations might be for the next budget cycle. “There have been other states faced with revenue shortfalls in the past, and they chose to invest despite those difficulties,” Reid said.
(Detroit Free Press, June 1, 2007)
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UNIVERSITIES SCORE WELL ON RESEARCH, THEY CARRY AS MUCH ECONOMIC PUNCH AS MORE NOTED AREAS IN NATION

Michigan’s three research universities pack as much economic power as better-known hot spots around the country, such as North Carolina’s Research Triangle, a study released today concludes....MSU President Lou Anna Simon said Wednesday in a phone call from Mackinac Island, where the conference is under way, that the state’s public universities are taken for granted. “If we were a business, people (Michigan’s competitors) would be trying to move us out of state,” she said.
(The Ann Arbor News, May 31, 2007)
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REPORT SHOWS MICHIGAN’S RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES REALLY ARE WORLD-CLASS

A report released by the three universities that make up the University Research Corridor shows the alliance brings together “knowledge economy” resources comparable to those of some of the nation’s most tech-savvy regions.
(The Great Lakes IT Report, June 1, 2007)
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MI COLLEGE ALLIANCE GREAT FOR ECONOMY

When it comes to sports, Michigan’s top universities are arch enemies, but for research purposes, they are all on the same team. A new report finds that team has the power to produce a big win for the state. The cyclotron is one of Michigan State University’s most-prized research projects, and thanks to a six-month-old alliance between MSU, Wayne State and the University of Michigan, resources and research like the cyclotron are shared between the state’s “big three” academic institution.
(WLNS, May 31, 2007)
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UNIVERSITY RESEARCH TOPS OTHER STATES*

Michigan’s three largest universities outperform some of the best-known university research systems in other states, and the universities and state government should use that fact to help attract companies and economic development, university officials said as they released a report on the issue Thursday... Ms. Coleman said this could be a major development tool for Michigan. “Everyone knows what the branding of the ‘Research Triangle’ has done in North Carolina,” she said, including boosting the fortunes of all other universities in the Tarheel state. Michigan has to brand its own research area to help build development here, she said... Matt Cullen of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation said the research was “tremendously impressive” and that the MEDC was looking forward to using it in its business recruitment efforts....Asked if he thought the three universities should be separated in the budget, Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop (R-Rochester) said he was not sure if that could happen in the current fiscal year. In effect, some movement towards that was already taking place, he said.
(Gongwer News Service, May 31, 2007)

MICHIGAN RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES PACK ECONOMIC PUNCH

The state’s three largest research universities spent more on research and development in 2005 than Harvard, MIT and Tufts University combined. The three schools received more patents between 2002 and 2006 than the universities that make up North Carolina’s Research Triangle.
(Lansing State Journal, May 31, 2007)
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UNIVERSITIES IN SHAPE TO DRIVE ECONOMIC GROWTH

By working to increase business partnerships — and making their resources more visible to the rest of the world — the presidents say they hope to be part of attracting business to Michigan and reinvigorating its economy.
(WWJ, May 31, 2007)
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RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES’ ANNUAL SPENDING TOTALS $6.5B, STUDY SAYS

The University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University, which are in a six-month-old alliance to promote a Michigan research triangle, spend a combined $6.5 billion a year on operations or 2 percent of the state’s economic activity... Other highlights: More than 617,957 UM, Wayne and MSU alumni living in Michigan earned $24.3 billion in 2006. Also, the universities employed 46,398 full-time faculty and staff in fiscal year 2006.Wayne State President Irvin Reid said the reasons for collecting the data include benchmarking performance, providing a report card and increasing visibility. “We want to tell the world Michigan is open for business,” UM President Mary Sue Coleman said.
(Crain’s Detroit Business, June 4, 2007)
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MICHIGAN’S GOVERNOR AND LAWMAKERS PLAN TO WITHHOLD MONEY FORM THE VERY INSTITUTIONS THEY HOPE WILL KICK-START ITS ECONOMY

Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm, a Democrat, and many lawmakers publicly acknowledge that the way out of this budget hole is to use higher education to transform the state’s Rust Belt economy to one more dependent on knowledge-based industries, such as nursing and biotechnology. But paying for that transformation is proving harder than first thought... Since 2001, state spending on higher education in Michigan has dropped by more than $150-million, or 7 percent. By comparison, during the same period, higher-education appropriations nationwide have risen, on average, 19 percent since 2001. Just this fiscal year, state appropriations for higher education across the country rose 7 percent, while Michigan saw only a 3-percent increase that is now threatened by the delayed payment.
(The Chronicle of Higher Education, June 8, 2007)

FUND EDUCATION — OR DIE: OUR ONLY HOPE IS TO ATTRACT NEW HIGH-TECH, NEW ECONOMY JOBS TO MICHIGAN.

Our only hope, really, is to attract new high-tech, new-economy jobs. The odds are heavy that we will never again be able to depend on a single product or industry, which could be a damn good thing if we ever get our economy together. But how do we do that? We have a few things going for us. One is a large pool of manufacturing and engineering talent. Another is a university system far better than most states have. The University of Michigan is a world-class institution, and Michigan State and Wayne State are great schools that see helping people improve their lives as a major part of their mission. What we need to do — even in a slumping economy — is to make sure those schools have the resources they need to get us a future. We need to do everything we can to get more of our students in colleges and universities and high-tech vocational programs, or they will have no future.
(Jack Lessenberry, Metro Times, May 16, 2007)

TWO LINES: MICHIGAN LEGISLATURE SHOULD ADOPT UNIVERSITY FUNDING SPLIT

Rather, higher education is a critical investment for Michigan. Different schools perform different functions within Michigan; all important, but different. And Michigan is not going to jump-start its information economy by treating Eastern Michigan and U-M Ann Arbor as essentially the same. In altering university funding, legislators shouldn’t be looking to aid MSU or Wayne by subtracting from CMU or Grand Valley State. Rather, lawmakers need to find ways to properly invest in both research schools and state schools.
(Lansing State Journal, May 15, 2006)

FOCUS INNOVATIONS: 10 RESEARCH PROJECTS TO WATCH

Crain’s Detroit Business went looking for researchers in Southeast Michigan whose next big breakthrough could change the way we live — and maybe Southeast Michigan’s economy... The three universities that comprise the recently created University Research Corridor (Wayne State University, University of Michigan and Michigan State University) have accounted for 79 spin-off companies that have received 632 patents and about $192 million in revenue during the past five years. An increase in venture capital in the state will help these companies, and more like them, grow, David Brophy, an associate professor of finance at UM, said in a March interview. Now, he said, “we’re inching forward to where we can be a center for knowledge-based businesses.” (eight of the 10 projects profiled were from URC universities while the other two were from local private institutions)
(Crain’s Detroit Business, May 14, 2007)
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U-M, MSU and WAYNE ALL FOCUSED ON ALTERNATIVE ENERGY, BIOFUELS AND OTHER TECHNOLOGIES

Here in Michigan, we are making some exciting strides. The University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State are all engaged in research and development work focused on developing alternative energy sources, biofuels, and other technologies. U-M has also submitted recommendations for legislation that encourages increased collaboration between policymakers, the academic community and the automotive industry. And you may have heard about “Spartan corn” — a new type of corn created at Michigan State that would make ethanol production more cost-effective and efficient. I am encouraged by these innovations — and by other pollution-reduction technologies being realized here in Michigan. Congress should look for ways to foster more of this work.
(U.S. Rep. John Dingell speaking to the Detroit Economic Development Club, May 14, 2007)

MSU LAB PROMISING

Few states are as well positioned as Michigan for leadership in biotechnology and economic gain from the industry’s growth. This was underscored last week by Pfizer’s generous gift of its $50 million Holland Township research and development facility to Michigan State University... The governor and Legislature should provide MSU the necessary financial support for success. Strengthening the state’s biotechnology capability and competitiveness demands clear vision, aggressive leadership and far greater investment. Without it, Michigan risks missing a golden opportunity to truly diversify its economy and will lose ground in a competitive global market.
(Grand Rapids Press, May 14, 2007)
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TIME FOR LAWMAKERS TO GET SMART ABOUT UNIVERSITY FUNDING

Five years after representatives from some of Michigan’s biggest corporations urged renewed investment in higher education, a new report reveals just how thoroughly they were ignored in Lansing. “Our future is at stake,” wrote members of the University Investment Commission, which spent 2002 examining the years-long decline in state funding for colleges relative to tuition. They said spending more on higher education — despite ongoing state budget trouble — would build a more resilient economy, spur innovation and research, create more high-wage jobs, enhance civic and cultural life, and restrain tuition hikes. Needless to say, the encouragement of the panel chaired by former Republican House Speaker Paul Hillegonds weren’t heard by a new Democratic administration and a GOP Legislature that took over in 2003. The funding shifts the panel lamented only accelerated, and the future doesn’t look good. Just this month House Democrats voted to take away the meager 2007 higher ed funding increases passed last year. The 2008 spending plan proposed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm provides an inflationary adjustment, but even that is predicated on a $1 billion tax increase for which there currently are no votes.
(Peter Luke, Booth Newspapers, May 13, 2007)

SURVEY: STATE HOLDS GROUND IN NUMBER OF HIGH-TECH JOBS

A survey released April 24 by AeA, formerly the American Electronics Association, said Michigan had 177,600 high-tech jobs with a payroll of about $13 billion in 2005, the most recent state-by-state data available. That was a loss of 400 jobs from 2004.There were 500 more jobs in defense electronics, 400 more in measuring and control equipment and 200 more jobs in electronic components. Michigan remained 10th in tech employment in the U.S. Research and development remained strong in the state, with 44,900 jobs ranking it No. 2 in the country.
(Crain’s Detroit Business, May 6, 2007)
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MICHIGAN MUST FIND WAYS TO MAKE THE BEST OF HIGHER ED INVESTMENT

If high-tech is the future, investment in higher ed ought to reflect that. If the state’s service-industry boom is the way forward economically, then community colleges need to be focused on producing those workers. The challenge for Michigan is thus manifold: Live up to the obligation to keep higher education accessible, encourage even more young people to pursue it for the sake of their own futures, and create an employment climate that is ready to make use of their knowledge. … That’s an extraordinarily tall order. But not an impossible one to meet. This is still a vital economic center with strong potential. That promise has got to be nurtured, and fast. The alternative is to become the nation’s leading exporter of well-educated job applicants.
(Detroit Free Press, May 3, 2007)
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IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE STATE?

So acute is the projected physician shortage that Farr is downright thrilled to see Michigan State University progressing on plans for a Grand Rapids medical school as well as plans for a new medical school in Oakland County. The added graduates resulting from the projects can help to mitigate the looming decline. … In each case, economic development through related medical research and commercialization of innovations, plus addressing a coming physician shortage, are the driving motivators. “This is something that will benefit all of Michigan if we get a lot of these medical schools going,” said Farr, who claims difficulty in recruiting physicians to his practice.
(Michigan Business Review Western Michigan, May 3, 2007)
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BCHS MAY TEAM UP WITH WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY

Nurses and physicians are in short supply in Michigan. To attract more graduates to the Battle Creek area and increase the quality of training, Battle Creek Health System may partner with Wayne State University in the coming years. Dr. Robert Mentzer Jr., dean of WSU’s School of Medicine in Detroit, met with BCHS President and CEO Pat Garrett for the first time Tuesday to talk about collaboration. Mentzer said he is interested in increasing Wayne State’s presence throughout Michigan.
(Battle Creek Enquirer, May 2, 2007)
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CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS: 20 IN THEIR 20S (12 GRADUATED FROM OR ATTENDED URC UNIVERSITIES)

But with this week’s issue, we’ll introduce you to 20 other young people you should know. They may not have made their first million dollars, but they are committed to countering the region’s “brain drain” while staking their claim — and making their mark — in metro Detroit. Nearly 200 people were nominated for consideration for this year’s 20 in their 20s class. A team of editors and reporters checked references and debated merits of all the candidates before narrowing the list to 20. These 20 creative, out-of-the-box thinkers span a wide variety of fields: fashion, retail, finance, information technology, nonprofits and music.
(Crain’s Detroit Business)
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STRATEGIC ALLIANCE TRACKING REGION’S VITAL SIGNS

Per capita income in western Michigan is improving but still lags state and national numbers, a new study finds. But the region’s employment picture is brighter. … The West Michigan Strategic Alliance has a number of projects under way to move the indicators, including its three-year, $15 million federally funded WIRED western Michigan work force development program; a green infrastructure and multi-jurisdictional land-use planning initiative that announced a new partnership with the Michigan State University Land Policy Institute; and a sustainable manufacturing initiative undertaken with the Right Place Inc. economic development agency in the Grand Rapids area.
(Michigan Business Review Western Michigan, April 26, 2007)
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MARY KRAMER: THE SHIFT TO BRAINPOWER

Can brainpower replace horsepower in Southeast Michigan? Actually, that shift started in the last century. And it has been growing more urgent as Michigan has tried to diversify from its heavily automotive legacy. Ironically, entrepreneurs pushed Michigan into its 20th century role as the center for what became a global automotive industry. Now, the push is on to create an entrepreneur-friendly culture in Michigan to attract and support companies producing innovations in everything from medical devices and biotechnology to alternate energy and new ways to power vehicles. Efforts of many, from government to universities to private investors and funds, seem to be paying off. The 2007 State New Economy Index released in February ranked Michigan No. 19 in the United States, up from 34th when the index was first published in 1999.
(Mary Kramer, Crain’s Detroit Business, April 23, 2007)
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TOWARD A ‘THIRD COAST’ MICHIGAN VENTURE CAPITAL STARTS TO SHOW UP ON NATIONAL RADAR

When Lindsay Aspegren and Hugo Braun decided to name their fledgling Ann Arbor-based venture-capital firm North Coast Technology Partners L.P. in 1999, it might have seemed wishful thinking to venture capitalists on the East and West coasts, where a majority of the business operated. Silicon Valley dominated the West Coast; Route 128 in Massachusetts was the hub of action in the east. A third coast of venture-capital activity in Michigan seemed like an impossible fantasy. Today, though, there is reason to think that what were once unconnected dots of activity—a deal here, a small venture-capital fund there, a few university spin-offs —is starting to gather critical mass.…“Research universities in the Midwest are an untapped source that have tremendous potential. You look at the East Coast and the West Coast, and those areas are both well mined. That’s not the case here.”
(Crain’s Detroit Business, April 23, 2007)
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BUDGET PROPOSALS IGNORE STATE’S BIG PICTURE, SOME SAY

Michigan Future puts research universities and vibrant central-city neighborhoods at the top of the list of assets in which Michigan should focus for long-term growth.
(Crain’s Detroit Business, April 23, 2007)
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EXPANSION MANAGEMENT MAGAZINE NAMES ANN ARBOR NO. 1 REGION IN NATION FOR KNOWLEDGE WORKERS, LANSING/EAST LANSING REGION ALSO ON LIST

Our 5th annual Knowledge Worker Quotient™, on the other hand, focuses on the college-educated work force—scientists, engineers, medical doctors, Ph.D.s and others with graduate and postgraduate degrees—that provides the foundation for our knowledge sector economy. These are the communities that will thrive and prosper in the future, and there is one common thread that runs throughout all of them: the presence of one or more major research universities. “Universities are the main attraction that bring technology businesses into a particular area,” says Charles Brez, vice president of innovation alliances at NineSigma, a Cleveland, Ohio,-based company that enhances the R&D capabilities of businesses like P&G, DuPont, and Kraft, by connecting those companies with the best researchers worldwide through an open network of innovators. “Look at Silicon Valley with Stanford, or Route 128 with MIT in Cambridge, Mass. To me, there’s no better draw for bringing businesses into an area than technology and research spending in a university.”
(Expansion Management magazine, April 2007)
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GRAND VALLEY STATE PRESIDENT: U-M, MSU, WSU HAVE “RESPONSIBILITY OF BUILDING THE NEW ECONOMY.”

“The most important institution to the State of Michigan over the next 20 years is the University of Michigan,” Mr. Murray said. When considering the investments that Toyota and Pfizer have made to the Ann Arbor area, “it wasn’t the Huron River that attracted them,“ he said, but the concentration of learning and research as well as the lifestyle of the area. UM as well as Michigan State University and Wayne State University “should be legitimately recognized as a distinct situation” critical to the state’s future, Mr. Murray in an interview with Gongwer News Service. The state’s 12 other universities, including GVSU where he will end his five-year presidency in five weeks, do some research, Mr. Murray said. But their primary function is to ensure that the leaders in Michigan’s current economy—engineers, teachers, accountants, etc.—have the best education possible. “MSU, Wayne State, UM are engaged in that as well. But they have the added responsibility of building the new economy,” Mr. Murray said. Mr. Murray was interviewed as he prepares to leave the campus to become the chief executive officer of Michigan’s largest privately held retailer, Meijer.
(Then-Grand Valley State University President Mark Murray to Gongwer News Service as he prepared to leave his post to take over the helm of Meijers, June 23, 2006)

MORE MICHIGAN PARENTS SEE COLLEGE AS ESSENTIAL

As Michigan reels from an eroding industrial job base, parents are getting the message: their children’s success depends more than ever on higher education. Fifty-nine percent of Michigan parents said everyone should get a degree, compared to 54 percent in 2005, according to a Detroit News/Channel 7 poll of 600 people released Tuesday. The poll measures public attitudes at what community leaders say is a critical time. The state must prepare for the high-tech jobs of the future, they say, which means changing long-held attitudes about education for a work force that’s accustomed to high-paying jobs with minimal schooling.…Nine percent of parents want their children to consider jobs in health care—one of the fastest growing areas of the local economy—compared to none in the last survey.
(The Detroit News, April 17, 2007)
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WITH BIG MONEY FLOWING TO BIOFUELS RESEARCH, UNIVERSITIES VIE TO HARVEST ENERGY FROM CROPS

Scientists also concur that the promise of “biorenewable energy” can be fully harvested only if they can figure out how to wring cheap fuel from the stalks and leaves of corn and other plants, and not just from the energy-rich seeds. Scientists in academe and industry are beginning to do just that. American universities, especially a handful of land-grant institutions in the Midwest, will play a major role in determining whether those efforts succeed.…President Bush has asked for significant progress within 10 years—a short time span in fundamental research.…But those risks have not stopped industry and the federal government from pouring more money into biofuels research, including some of the largest single grants ever given to academe.…Business and government experts envision crops that could turn green into gold for depressed economies in rural areas, reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, and even transform U.S. security policy.…Existing processes to create cellulosic ethanol involve treating plant material with acid and heat to make it easier to free up the sugars, which can then be fermented.…Because of low federal financing to date, “there’s less than 10 of us nationwide that have devoted any sustained attention to this question,” says Bruce E. Dale, a professor of chemical engineering and materials science at Michigan State University.
(The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 12, 2007)

OHIO LAGS, MICHIGAN THRIVES IN START-UPS BY IMMIGRANTS

A recent study by Duke University, titled America’s New Immigrant Entrepreneurs, found that more than a fourth of America’s high-tech startups from 1995 to 2005 were founded by immigrants and that nationwide those companies produced $52 billion in sales and employed 450,000 workers in 2005 … Ohio did poorly, with 14 percent of its high-tech start-ups being formed by immigrants. Michigan, however, did better than the national average, at 33 percent … Michigan’s foreign-born residents make up 5.1 percent of its total population, twice the proportion in Ohio, the study said … Another possibility is that until 2000, professors at Ohio’s public universities could not found companies. Such restrictions didn’t exist in Michigan. Thomas Gutteridge, dean of UT’s College of Business Administration, said Ohio perhaps didn’t do as well because most of its research is done at Ohio State University, whereas Michigan has big research centers at the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, and Wayne State University.
(The Toledo Blade, April 8, 2007)
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UNIVERSITIES’ ALLIANCE WILL HELP STATE, SCHOOLS SAY

The companies spun off from university research—and the jobs those start-ups create—are a big reason the Big Three of higher education in Michigan have asked to be funded separately from the state’s other 12 public universities. And, supporters say, the fledgling University Research Corridor (URC) created by those institutions could create even more jobs. They point to the 79 start-up companies spawned by the state’s biggest research universities from 2001-2005. And they say the 5-month-old collaboration—anchored presently by a Web site—could become more influential given time and more resources.
(Detroit Free Press, April 8, 2007)
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NOWHERE TO GO BUT UP? NORTH CAROLINA HAS BEEN THERE, TOO

“In the 1960s, North Carolina was in a very similar place,” Coleman says, recalling her days as a doctoral candidate at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. The state’s tax base was deteriorating as textile companies decamped to lower-wage countries. Per-capita income, already among the lowest in the country, was scarcely keeping pace with inflation and the state’s K-12 schools were struggling. But the ‘60s were also the decade in which North Carolina made the critical decision to anchor its three largest research universities—UNC, North Carolina State and private Duke University—with a 7,000-acre research park. In 1965, the nascent Research Triangle enticed both IBM and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to locate major facilities there. By 1970, employment had ballooned from 500 to more than 8,000. Now, four decades later, Research Triangle Park is the largest facility of its kind in the United States. The park’s 140-plus companies occupy more than 15 million square feet and employ 44,000 people. Coleman says she believes the Research Triangle’s success points the way to Michigan’s escape from its current economic doldrums.
(Brian Dickerson, Detroit Free Press, April 8, 2007)
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MORE CASH FOR STATE’S COLLEGES SUPPORTED

Six in 10 Michigan adults say the state must spend more money on its public universities to boost the economy and produce the workforce of the future, a Detroit Free Press-Local 4 Michigan Poll shows.
(Detroit Free Press, March 19, 2007)

Phil Power: We need to invest in higher ed

Any company in big-time trouble has to do two things: First, cut costs to the bone. That’s rule one for survival. But no company can prosper without driving up sales of its major product lines. Therefore, the second rule for any struggling concern: Launch a long-range investment program designed to strengthen your most competitive, durable and proprietary assets. Doing that equips you to compete, and maybe even thrive. [One] thing is a cause for a glimmer of optimism, and that’s what the three research or “constitutional” universities did last week. They came together and proposed that the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University be separately funded from the other 12 public universities in the state. If we’re going to get anywhere, the corporation known as the state of Michigan needs to figure out what kinds of long-term investments we need to make in order to survive and compete. Our great universities are a terrific place to start.
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Investment in top colleges should be budget priority

Michigan’s Big 3 research universities say they should get more money from the state, and they’re right. Michigan State, the University of Michigan and Wayne State are assets Michigan could leverage to lure investment and jobs, but unlike their competitors in other states, they have received declining budget support….If Michigan is to meet its goal of doubling the number of college graduates, it has to make education its highest budget priority, and it must fully exploit the economic development potential of its top colleges. That will require very tough decisions, and demand sacrifices in other areas. Some people will suffer because of those decisions. But unless they’re made, Michigan has little hope of pulling itself out of this swamp.
(The Detroit News, March 1, 2007)
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Keep state research universities healthy

Generations of Michiganders have built the state’s research universities into educational beacons that will slowly dim unless today’s generation ensures that they not only survive but thrive….Already the three universities bring $1.3 billion a year into the state, more than half of it federal research grants, according to WSU President Irvin Reid. To maintain that record, the schools need state support to keep their facilities up to date and to compete for top researchers. The university presidents have to pound that message home. Surveys make clear that a majority of the state still does not grasp the need for college, let alone the vital role that research and post-graduate studies play in the economy....Gov. Jennifer Granholm has proposed a 2.5% increase for all 15 state universities next year, with the research universities’ funding handled in a separate bill. This can lay the groundwork for years ahead when the three could get more. But a success for the research universities cannot come at a cost to other schools. As a group, with the research universities in the lead, they remain the brightest light the state can follow into the future.
(Detroit Free Press, March 1, 2007)
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Irvin Reid: We produce a steady flow of ideas and products

In his book Nothing like it in the World, historian Stephen Ambrose demonstrates that university research was the enabling force behind this nation’s first transcontinental railroad in 1876. That research, he says, had made such an achievement possible by improving the way bridges, steam engines, roads and the telegraph system were constructed and operated. University research no longer spends much time on steam engines, but it remains this society’s primary means of increasing knowledge, productivity and ultimately the quality of life. We produce a steady flow of ideas and products that are put to use throughout the state and national economies….Last year we created what we call the University Research Corridor, through which we hope to speed up technology transfer, make our resources more accessible and attract new jobs to the state. We see this alliance as another way through which our institutions can enhance Michigan’s global competitiveness while communicating our role and activities to business, government and the public.
(Wayne State University President Irvin Reid, February 28, 2007)
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Mary Sue Coleman: Michigan’s research universities are the critical link

We prepare the people who solve the problems of Michigan and the world. We excel at creating solutions for our state’s future, and I believe that by drawing upon our vast and unique strengths, our universities will continue to be innovation leaders…. At the University of Michigan alone, our scientists have discovered the genes for cystic fibrosis and Huntington’s disease, and our alumni are responsible for the iPod and Google. But our state and our nation have a problem. The best minds in our country are profoundly concerned that we are at risk if we do not commit to more innovation, more math and science, and more basic research….Today, because of staggering achievements in technology, it is the individual—not a nation or a corporation—who has the power to single-handedly effect change. Obviously, the more educated those individuals, the more competitive and successful they will be. Michigan’s research universities are the critical link in producing those competitive, innovative individuals.
(University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman, February 28, 2007)
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Lou Anna Simon: we are now in a global competition

Innovations and ideas are now in a global competition, just like manufacturing We represent three internationally recognized institutions. If Michigan wants to stay at the forefront, you have to have those institutions.…People understand around the world that research universities are the key to their success and the key to success for their children and their grandchildren. Investment in us means that the people of Michigan understand that as well….We’re looking for a separate appropriations bill with appropriate accountability measures that match our mission and match the contribution that we make to the State of Michigan that also try to ensure that we remain internationally competitive…. People will not give money to the University of Michigan Hospital if they don’t think it’s going to be first class. It really is that simple….I talked about the University Research Corridor and the way it can help Bay City, not simply because of what Michigan State can do through our activities there but what all three of us could do with respect to that community.
(Michigan State University President Lou Anna Simon, February 28, 2007)
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State’s medical schools had economic impact of $18.7 billion

Michigan’s medical schools had a combined economic impact of about $18.7 billion in 2005, a new report says. The report from the Association of American Medical Colleges also found that the state’s medical schools and major teaching hospitals are directly and indirectly responsible for about 122,000 jobs. Further, the report said the medical schools and teaching hospitals generated more than $976.2 million in state tax revenue in 2005 through income and sales taxes, corporate income taxes and capital stock/franchise taxes paid by businesses that collect revenue from state institutions.
(Crain’s Detroit Business, February 7, 2007)
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Software firm plans to move to Lansing

Software maker TechSmith Corp. plans to add 75 new high-tech jobs and build an $18 million world headquarters in Lansing. The move, announced Tuesday, was hailed by local and state officials, who said the deal lays the groundwork for more technology development in the region.…The deal, nearly a year in the making, will move homegrown TechSmith and its 140 workers from an office park near Okemos and Jolly roads to the Michigan State University-owned University Corporate Research Park. “This is a magnet for the future,” MSU President Lou Anna Simon said. “There are lots of assets in our region. We often take them for granted because they don’t have big names or they didn’t come up from the city’s automotive heritage.” TechSmith officials pledged to step up recruiting Michigan college graduates to fill job openings. About half the 75 new positions will be for software programmers and computer engineers who could make up to six-figure salaries, said William Hamilton, founder and president of TechSmith. All of the new jobs likely will require at least a bachelor’s degree.
(Lansing State Journal, February 14, 2007)
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MSU: Even in difficult budget times, Simon’s looking to build

If you need proof of the immense global influence in the economy, just look about you. A richer, deeper understanding of the world we share is vital for individual success and for our communities, state and country to thrive. MSU has a strong foundation of international outreach, but this is a bold step to strengthen those efforts. However, just as MSU continues to build its international presence, it must cast anxious glances at its fiscal foundation in Michigan. During a five-year span this decade, state aid to universities declined from $6,840 per student to $5,688. Last year, a budget deal between Gov. Jennifer Granholm and the Legislature pumped more money into higher education—but not enough to reverse the earlier cuts. And, this is the same budget the state is currently running a deficit on, the same budget that may have to be cut in coming months. Granholm’s proposal for the 2008 budget calls for increases in higher ed and nearly $300 million for MSU. But these are small advances taken after years of retrenchment.
(Lansing State Journal editorial, February 12, 2007)
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Boldness in a time of change

The university’s mission of outreach and engagement leads us to active involvement in improving the state’s economy. We’re just beginning to realize the potential of the University Research Corridor, an alliance with the University of Michigan and Wayne State University to strengthen and diversify Michigan’s economy. Through this partnership, Michigan’s three major research universities are working together to better align their efforts on behalf of the people of Michigan and to use their collective knowledge and resources to attract investment to the state.
(MSU President Lou Ann Simon in her State of the University address, February 9, 2007)
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Governor’s 2007 Budget Message

“To make Michigan more competitive, the Governor’s budget continues to invest in one of the state’s largest economic catalysts—its universities…. For the first time, Michigan’s three flagship universities—Michigan State University, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, and Wayne State University—are funded in a separate research university appropriation bill recognizing their unique contribution to the state’s economy…”—State Budget Director Bob Emerson, February 8, 2007
View a PDF of the complete budget overview testimony on the michigan.gov website.

“Let’s get an economic strategy”

So what lessons can we learn from the experience? First, when they give you lemons, you better learn how to make lemonade, fast. The folks in Ann Arbor are “galvanized.” They are scurrying around figuring how to make new businesses out of ruins of the Pfizer operation. They are trying to find investors and persuade scientists they’ve got a better chance at home than in some big, faceless research facility somewhere. Second, beware of depending too much on the big guys. They’re wonderful when times are good, everybody’s happy and there’s no compelling reason to take out the ax. But times are never always good for any company. And when times turn bad and the ax falls, the pain is enormous. It’s far better to have a diversified economy, with a mixture of small- and medium-sized companies. That’s the real reason the economies of Chicago and Minneapolis are able to ride out the inevitable ups and downs of the business world much more easily than we are.—Phil Power, February 8, 2007
(Livingston Daily, 2/8/2007)
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2007 Michigan State of the State: Our Moment, Our Choice

“Economists and experts across the country agree that education is the single most effective strategy for stoking a state’s economic growth. That means we all must create a culture of learning that is unprecedented in Michigan’s history. It is the foundation of our economic plan. And we are about to torque it up.”— Gov. Jennifer Granholm in her February 6, 2007 State of the State address to the Legislature.
For the complete address, visit the michigan.gov website

Planting jobs in a war zone: U-M leader honed skills in Iraq

Khalid Al-Naif was born Dec. 25, 1959, a night of revolution, gunshots and curfew in the streets of Baghdad. His father named him Khalid, meaning “immortal” in Arabic, figuring if the boy could make it through his first night, he could survive anything. He would have to endure plenty: a chaotic coup in 1968 that saw his father installed and quickly ousted as Iraq’s prime minister; a life of exile in Morocco, Switzerland, Germany, Britain and Jordan; and the assassination of his father, Abdel Razzaq Said Al-Naif, an opponent of Iraq’s Baathist regime, in 1978 in London. In 2004, after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, Khalid Al-Naif, by then a successful banker and international development expert, chose to return to his strife-torn homeland—leaving his wife and two boys in Jordan for security reasons — to lead a two-year project to grow private-sector businesses and employment in Iraq. And we think Gov. Jennifer Granholm has a tough challenge reviving Michigan’s sluggish economy. Perhaps she should visit Al-Naif — for a jolt of can-do optimism about how to grow jobs in a hostile environment — at his new Ann Arbor office with the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan. Al-Naif signed on Jan. 1 as director of development consulting services for the institute, which focuses on helping emerging economies prosper. (Detroit Free Press columnist Tom Walsh.)
(Detroit Free Press, February 6, 2007)
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Grand Rapids, Mich., banks on $1 billion medical district

Medical professionals and economic development officials around the country are keeping an eye on Health Hill. The burgeoning downtown medical district—forged by an uncommon public-private partnership — is providing a much-needed shot in the arm to Grand Rapids. Michigan’s second-largest city has been hit hard in recent years by the loss of thousands of furniture and auto parts manufacturing jobs….The billion-dollar cluster of hospitals, research laboratories, educational facilities and medical specialty buildings has been taking shape for about a decade. It occupies several blocks along and atop a steep hill on Michigan Street, on the northeastern edge of downtown. Last month, Michigan State University announced a $75 million expansion of its medical school on the hill, ending years of speculation and study. The seven-story 180,000-square-foot building will be constructed without an appropriation by the Legislature. Very little public funding has found its way into the medical district. Its growth has happened without any major tax incentives from the state or city governments — which is not to say they haven’t offered assistance where they could. “We’re fully supportive,” says Eric DeLong, deputy city manager. “With the addition of the MSU med school…it’s a very key growth cluster for us and we are emerging as a national leader.”
(Associated Press report appearing in the Centre Daily Times, State College, Pa., February 5, 2007)
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PFIZER GIVES MICHIGAN DOSE OF WHAT’S NEEDED IN A MODERN ECONOMY

“Aside from the auto industry, Michigan’s most powerful economic institutions are its great research universities, led by U-M. Now they must be woven into the region’s economy more directly and dynamically than ever before.” (Detroit Free Press columnist Tom Walsh.)
(Detroit Free Press, January 30, 2007)
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Downsizing creates chances: Ex-Pfizer chemist’s firm grows in state

Ken Nisbet, executive director of the University of Michigan’s Office of Technology Transfer, said that while Michigan’s technology and pharmaceutical industry is less developed than in some other states, “the attitude and aggressiveness to change our economy is all there.” A year ago, U-M opened its $220-million Biomedical Science Research Building, housing 240 labs in a modern 472,000-square-foot structure. The university’s program to help scientists create marketable products has continued to grow, Nisbet said. To date, it records 288 inventions, nine businesses and 97 license agreements—a 13% increase over last year, the university said. Similar efforts are under way at Wayne State University and Michigan State University. “We don’t have time to wallow in the sadness of the Pfizer announcement,” said Howard Bell, director of WSU’s TechTown, a 2-year-old effort to build and support technology and drug ventures. It is home to 42 new companies, he said.
(Detroit Free Press, January 24, 2007)
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Moving forward: MSU trustees OK purchase of site for Grand Rapids med school

MSU President Lou Anna Simon said the structure would be “the home, a physical symbol of a commitment for a very special kind of medical education in west Michigan.”…The site, which will cost $15.75 million, is just a stone’s throw from the Van Andel Institute and Spectrum Health’s Butterworth Campus, both partners in the project. Marsha Rappley, dean of MSU’s College of Human Medicine, said such proximity was vital for collaboration, for “the kind of excitement and contagion you can create around education and research.”
(Lansing State Journal, January 19, 2007)
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MSU approves news med school

With Michigan State University’s Board of Trustees poised to give the formal nod to its new Grand Rapids medical school today, medical educators around the country are expected to be watching. “There’s a national spotlight on Grand Rapids as a result of the expansion of the medical school here,” said Marsha Rappley, dean of MSU’s College of Human Medicine. “We’re making it happen here in a way that we feel is setting the model.” The Grand Rapids medical school is unusual because it is being built without an appropriation by the state Legislature.
(Muskegon Chronicle, January 18, 2007)
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Crain’s Detroit Business: U-M President Mary Sue Coleman a Newsmaker of the Year

Three years before Google Inc. announced its plans to move its AdWords division—and 1,000 jobs—to the Ann Arbor area, Coleman visited Larry Page, Google co-founder and president and a U-M alumnus, at the company’s California headquarters. Coleman further stoked his interest in Ann Arbor at a graduation ceremony for U-M’s School of Engineering. In 2005, Coleman announced Google’s agreement with UM to digitize 7 million volumes from the university’s libraries. In July, Google announced it would move its second-largest division to Ann Arbor after considering Boston and several other locations.
(Crain’s Detroit Business, January 1–7, 2007)
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Delphi, MSU to launch company; supplier may also work with WSU

Delphi Technologies Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Delphi Corp. that aims to develop nonautomotive revenue for the troubled parts supplier, is partnering with Michigan State University to launch its second stand-alone company, Smart Antenna Inc., in the first quarter this year. Another company, in partnership with researchers at Wayne State University’s Smart Sensors and Integrated Microsystems laboratory, could be launched by year-end. That firm, which has yet to be named, would make cheaper lenses for infrared cameras. A marketing feasibility study that supported commercialization of the lens was conducted during the just-concluded fall semester by a class taught at the University of Michigan by David Brophy, an associate professor of finance and director of the business school’s Center for Venture Capital and Private Equity.
(Crain’s Detroit Business, January 8–12, 2007)
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Wayne State approved to launch construction of $34 million South University Village development in Midtown

Vacant land on a major commercial corridor will be transformed into exciting shops and restaurants, state-of-the-art residential facilities and a thriving gateway to the Wayne State University campus following the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) approval for Brownfield tax credits to support the South University Village project. The $34 million development in Midtown Detroit will feature a $20 million residential apartment and retail establishment on Woodward and a WSU parking structure on Forest (Phase One) that will support both the residential and retail components of the project as well as the general public in the surrounding area. “The university has made tremendous advances in transforming the neighborhood and making Midtown Detroit the bustling epicenter of Detroit’s revitalization,” said Wayne State University President Irvin D. Reid. “Today”s decision by the MEDC adds momentum to our long-standing commitment to continue building an exciting and vibrant campus community.”
(December 20, 2006)
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TechTown unveils $1.3B plan

TechTown, in partnership with Wayne State University, Henry Ford Health System and General Motors Corp., is shopping a master plan for what the partners hope will be a $1.3 billion, 43-acre, 12-square-block multiuse renewal project south of the New Center in Detroit.
(Crain’s Detroit Business, December 18, 2006)
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MSU takes new path in seeking $520M for rare isotope research

With a $1 billion government research project stalled, Michigan State University is trying another route to land up to $520 million in federal grants to upgrade its rare isotope research capabilities. The upgrades would create an estimated 800 new jobs in construction and permanent lab positions and have an estimated economic impact on the state of about $1 billion over 20 years, said Konrad Gelbke, director of the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at MSU.
(Crain’s Detroit Business, December 18, 2006)
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RESEARCH CORRIDOR: MICHIGAN AT WORK

In theory, education should be a big part of the solution to wrenching Michigan’s economic woes. But exactly how can this happen? Last week brought to center stage a potential answer — Michigan’s University Research Corridor.
(Jackson Citizen Patriot, December 5, 2006)

TOP TEN REASONS MICHIGAN MALAISE ISN’T TERMINAL DISEASE

Michigan’s Big Three universities, underutilized jewels, are breaking with the past and taking an aggressive role in leading change. Their presidents are active in business recruitment and leadership; they’re more prominent in revitalizing corners of Detroit; they’re working with state development types.
(Daniel Howes, The Detroit News, December 4, 2006)

TRIUMVIRATE: 3 HEADS ARE BETTER THAN 1

Michigan’s three research universities last week announced they have a role to play in reviving the state’s economy — and they’re doing something about it.
(Ann Arbor News, December 4, 2006)

GREAT LAKES IT REPORT: RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES TO ROLL OUT ALLIANCE

The University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University today will announce the creation of the University Research Corridor. The alliance is another effort to diversify and transform Michigan’s economy from low-skill manufacturing to high-skill innovation. So far, the corridor’s major accomplishment is a very slick Web site at www.urcmich.org. Ultimately, the three universities are aiming to speed up the rate at which their huge research budgets — currently $1.3 billion a year between the three institutions — are turned into Michigan jobs, and to use their influence to attract more businesses to the state.
(Great Lakes IT Report, November 28, 2006)

UNIVERSITY RESEARCH CORRIDOR COULD BOOST MICHIGAN

Michigan’s Big Three of public research universities announced today a new University Research Corridor designed to stimulate the state’s economy through collaborative research. It’s a decent first step that could be improved by looking at what works elsewhere.
(The Detroit News, November 28, 2006)

STATE’S BIG 3 SCHOOLS JOIN FIGHT TO REVIVE MICHIGAN: U-M, MSU, Wayne WORK TOGETHER TO STIMULATE GROWTH

Michigan’s Big Three public research universities vision of a new University Research Corridor designed to stimulate the state’s economy through collaborative research is a decent first step that could be improved through further practical strategies and by looking at what works elsewhere.
(The Detroit News, November 28, 2006)

UNIVERSITIES KEY TO THE FUTURE

Michigan’s greatest jewels, and greatest hope for the future, are its universities, especially the “Big Three”—the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University. They are all world-class research universities, and essential to our future, now more than ever. Our state’s economy is undergoing a wrenching but necessary transition from one based on brawn-based manufacturing to one centered in brain-based knowledge.
(Livingston Daily Press, October 26, 2006)
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THE NEXT HOT SPOT: COLLEGE TOWNS

Places such as Ann Arbor, Michigan, Tempe Arizona, Durham, North Carolina and Austin, Texas will become the new “factory towns.” The growing number of people who place a value on technology, information and education will see college towns as communities filled with like-minded people. Smart businesses will follow the people, creating a business boom in the nation’s college towns.
(From Applebee’s America by Doug Sosnik, Matthew Dowd and Ron Fournier. For more on the book, visit the website.)

MICHIGAN’S HIGH-TECH HOPE: Ann Arbor’s economy shines

The latest push for growth comes as leaders in Ann Arbor, Washtenaw County and U-M combine efforts to bring jobs to the region. The result has been a string of expansion plans and new companies deciding to set up shop in or near the college town.
(excerpted from the Detroit Free Press, October 9, 2006)
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A BRAIN DRAIN? NOT HERE

Perhaps even more important for the state’s economic future, Michigan’s population of college graduates—the people who put the “brain” in brain drain—has been increasing, not declining. Between 2001 and 2004, the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey data showed a net increase of 35,700 people with a bachelor’s degree or higher choosing to migrate to Michigan.
(By John Gallagher, Detroit Free Press, September 13, 2006)

Is Google’s Ann Arbor move the end of the beginning?

Doug Rothwell, president of Detroit Renaissance and one of the smartest economic development types around, noted in a recent Detroit Free Press article that “North Carolina invests heavily in its universities, especially its flagship research universities. In turn, the universities diversify the state’s economy.” By contrast, “In Michigan, the model is quite different. We treat higher education as an expense rather than as an investment.”
(Observer-Eccentric Newspapers, July 27, 2006)
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Googled: Region can position for high-tech gains, with right strategy

The keys were right there on the LSJ’s front page Wednesday— requirements for the Google jobs in Michigan are “college degree or equivalent experience, strong computer skills, related job experience.” To gain new high-tech jobs, mid-Michigan must be able to show potential employers that an able work force is on hand. And “able” in the 21st century world means “advanced education.”
(Lansing State Journal editorial, July 13, 2006)

Poll: More education spending can help economy

And nearly eight of 10 Michiganders say spending whatever it takes to produce the nation’s best-educated workforce would be money well-spent to improve the state’s economy.
(Free Press-Local 4 Michigan Poll July 7–12, 2006)
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TRAINING TEACHERS FOR NORTH CAROLINA

The cost of the universities and the large part they play in the state economy argue for a thorough study of how these 15 campuses can be better organized to restrain expense and to better align spending with public needs... Are all 15 administrative bureaucracies justified? How best to protect and advance Michigan State University, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University, schools having the greatest economic importance to the state?
(The Grand Rapids Press, March 23, 2006)

State needs to value smarter workforce

One ongoing debate in economic development circles is whether it makes more sense for a state to relentlessly drive down taxes, or to invest heavily in top-notch research universities and incentives to attract talented, highly educated workers.
(Detroit Free Press columnist Tom Walsh, March 3, 2006)

WSU chief Reid’s vision is textbook lesson for Detroit

For a glimpse of what it takes to get people back into Detroit—an occasionally hot topic in this fall’s mayoral campaign—take a look at Wayne State University.
(Daniel Howes, Detroit News, October 26, 2005)

State at Risk of Economic Devastation: Education, Innovation must become focus, studies say

Meanwhile, Michigan has slashed investment in higher education at a time when we need to be doing exactly the opposite.
(Originally published in the Detroit Free Press April 7, 2005)
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Pfizer’s faith in Michigan is positive sign for our economy

All the right tools are here. The cost of living is comparatively low. Three major state universities—Michigan State, Wayne State and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, the closest thing Michigan has to Silicon Valley—together make an intellectual powerhouse. And there’s a growing comfort with new technology and entrepreneurship.
(Detroit News columnist Daniel Howes, May 2, 2003.)

Michigan Public Universities have significant economic impact

For each dollar of the state government’s share of the universities’ operating cost, the state’s economy receives a return of $26 collectively.
(Wayne State University Press release, July 11, 2002)
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